SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police arrested a West Side man who they said beat his girlfriend's puppy to death with a gym weight in a fit of rage.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Leo Martinez, 29, had been arguing with his girlfriend on the night of Nov. 11 at a home on West Mayfield.
Witnesses told police that Martinez grabbed his girlfriend by the neck and yanked a telephone out of her hands.
The fighting spilled outdoors, where Martinez picked up a 15-pound dumbbell and tried to hit the woman with it but missed, the affidavit said.
That's when Martinez turned his anger on her dog, a Siberian husky named "Nightmare," which was chained to a fence, police said.
"He basically bludgeoned this animal into unconsciousness," said Joel Skidmore, head investigator of Animal Care Services. "He beat the animal so bad that they had thought that it died."
Police called ACS to the home after finding out an animal had been hurt.
"There's absolutely no reason for this to have happened. This is a horrific act of animal cruelty," Skidmore said.
Soon after ACS investigators arrived, they realized the dog was still alive.
The animal, which had been unconscious, woke up yelping and screaming, the affidavit said.
"Being repeatedly beaten with a weight, the animal -- I can't begin to number the extent of the injuries," Skidmore said.
ACS rushed the dog to an emergency veterinary clinic, where it died two days later.
A warrant was issued for Martinez's arrest in mid-December.
He was taken into custody Thursday, with his bond set at $15,000.