California Man Arrested For Felony Animal Cruelty Charges After Throwing Dog Over Barbed Wire Fence [Video]

A California man accused of abandoning his dog by throwing it over the fence surrounding a cellphone tower was arrested on Thursday. 

Robert Ruiz Jr., 30, has been charged with felony animal cruelty and misdemeanor abandonment. During his arrest, a 1-year-old female pit bull mix was seized. He is suspected of abandoning another dog that officers are still working to locate. 

Surveillance footage captured the disturbing moment Ruiz threw his 8-year-old pit mix over the 7-foot-tall fence surrounding a Winchester cell tower last month. At the top of the fence was barbed wire, which the dog made contact with, causing him to flip through the air. 

“It is a small miracle that the dog did not sustain serious injuries from the barbed wire or from falling that high,” Officer Michael McGee said to NBC4.

Ruiz told Animal Services after his arrest that he felt he was doing the right thing. He explained that he didn’t want to bring the dog to a shelter for unknown reasons. 

Luckily, maintenance workers found the dog less than two hours later. He was dehydrated and suffered minor injuries but was not seriously hurt. The dog, now called Ken, was taken to the Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter.

It was initially reported that an Orange County woman adopted Ken, but a rescue took him in. The founder of Underdog Heroes Rescue told KTLA that they would have faced challenges getting the dog without being dishonest. 

The dog is now being treated for a respiratory infection and will be placed in a foster home next weekend. He will be up for adoption after that.