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Authorities in Atlantic Highlands said 49-year-old Keith Guastamacchia told them he stopped to let the dog relieve herself along Route 36 just before 11:30 Friday night.
Guastamacchia told them he drove away after an upsetting phone call, forgetting that he’d tied the leash to a door handle, they said.
A police officer, seeing what was happened, stopped and arrested Guastamacchia, who was charged with animal cruelty.
“The actions of the alert officer, no doubt, saved the dog’s life,” Victor “Buddy” Amato, the chief officer of Monmouth County SPCA, said in a statement (Roxy photo, above: Coutesty Amato).
Guastamacchia was released with a summons to appear in court, police said.
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