Accused Dog Killer Claimed Canines "Hung Themselves"

MARCH 18--After police discovered two deceased dogs dangling from makeshift nooses in his backyard, a Florida Man claimed that the canines “hung themselves,” according to a criminal complaint charging him with animal cruelty.

Deputies responding to a reported disturbance Sunday afternoon found the dogs “hung by their necks, suspended off of the ground between two trees” in the rear of a Fort Pierce home. The animals had straps around their necks “tied with multiple knots to rope and chain.”

“One of the animals has a white coaxial cable tied around its neck, securing the head to chain it is suspended from,” cops reported.

When police questioned Salomon Cruz-Perez, who lives alone at the home, he said that the dogs “got tied up themselves.” He claimed that the animals had been on leashes in the front yard, but when he returned to the residence after getting food, he found the dogs “were already like that” in the backyard.

Cruz-Perez, 42, complained that the dogs would “make a mess and destroy things inside of the residence,” according to an arrest affidavit. He also accused one of the animals of trying to kill him, explaining that he fell on the concrete driveway after becoming entangled in the canine’s leash.

When questioned about the gruesome scene, Cruz-Perez reportedly said he believed “the animals hung themselves in the backyard.”

According to Animal Control officials, Cruz-Perez last week “attempted to surrender three animals, two adult dogs and a puppy.” When told that he would have to pay for a veterinarian to euthanize the dogs, investigators say, Cruz-Perez “decided not to surrender the animals.”  

Three days later, the dogs were found dead behind Cruz-Perez’s home, in what the defendant contends was a double suicide.

Police, of course, rejected such lunacy and arrested Cruz-Perez (seen above) on two counts of aggravated animal cruelty, a felony. He is locked up in the county jail in lieu of $60,000 bond. (2 pages)