Atlanta Falcons LB, Prince Shembo, was charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals after kicking his girlfriend’s Yorkie last month.
The incident occurred on April 19th when Shembo’s girlfriend left her small dog, Dior, with him. Later, when she returned, her dog was unresponsive. Dior later died at an animal hospital where an autopsy discovered he died of “significant internal injuries and the cause of death was blunt force trauma.” Those injuries included a fractured rib, fractured liver, abdominal hemorrhage, thoracic hemorrhage, extensive bruising and hemorrhage in the muscles in her front leg and shoulders, head trauma, hemorrhage and edema in lungs, hemorrhage between the esophagus and trachea, and hemorrhage in the left eye. Shembo later admitted to his girlfriend that he had kicked the dog and she broke up with him.
Today the Atlanta Falcons have announced that they have cut Prince Shembo. “We are aware of the charges that have been filed against Prince Shembo,” the team said in a statement. “We are extremely disappointed that one of our players is involved in something like this. Accordingly, we have decided to waive Prince Shembo.”
Clearly the Falcons don’t want another Mike Vick situation on their hands so they did what they had to do.