A Texas man is behind bars after being charged with animal cruelty for strangling his dog to death in August.
William Rose, 40, initially told authorities his dog Rocky died from depression, but a necropsy performed on the dog confirmed he died from strangulation.
According to KSAT, Rose’s neighbors saw him carrying the dog around by the neck. He told them the dog had died, and he was taking it on one last walk. Neighbors called authorities when they saw Rose put the dog on a makeshift shrine in his backyard.
When Animal Care Officers arrived, Rose told them he wasn’t sure how the dog came to be deceased and told them the dog “died from depression.”
While in the Bexar County Jail for an unrelated charge, officers once again questioned Rose. He told the detective that he was walking the dog off-leash when a security guard from the apartment complex asked him to put the dog on a leash.
“He stated that since he did not have a leash, he held onto the dog by its collar,” continuing to walk the dog for another 20 minutes, holding him in a position that lifted the dog’s paws off the ground. When they returned to their apartment, the dog appeared to have trouble breathing. Rose states he left the dog alone in the apartment, and when he returned, Rocky was dead.
According to the arrest affidavit, he told the police that he wanted to carry the dog one more time before disposing of him in the dumpster.
Rose was charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals and is being held on a $25,000 bond.
