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On Thursday, April 29, the Animal Control Supervisor at the T.J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center contacted detectives at the Springfield Police Department about a report of potential animal abuse that occurred the previous day.
Detectives retrieved footage from the area of Locust Street where the incident happened, which showed a man, later identified as area resident Carlos Figueroa Jr., slapping a dog with a collar, violently grabbing the dog by the neck, and slapping it again before kicking the dog in the head.
Figueroa, 47, was tracked down by investigators and arrested on Warriner Avenue at approximately 2:15 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, charging him with animal cruelty.
The dog, a female named Buddha, was retrieved by an employee from T.J. O’Connor and is now recovering.
Detectives requested a high bail of $5,000, which was granted by the court clerk, which Figueroa was able to post. He was released and scheduled to return to court at a later date to respond to the charge.
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