July 17, 2008

An Albuquerque city worker has been charged with animal cruelty after a video surfaced with her kicking and throwing the recently adopted dog. (Pet Pulse Illustration by Mike Lloyd)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- An Albuquerque city worker has been charged with animal cruelty, after a video of her throwing and kicking her recently adopted puppy was turned over to the Valencia County Sheriff’s office on Monday.

Yvette Tapia, who works for the Albuquerque City Attorney, was charged with cruelty to animals and failure to sterilize an animal by contract, according to Valencia County Animal Control.

“She most definitely abused the animal by throwing it, of course, and a couple of kicks involved and pulls and tugs on the leash,” said John Jaramill, of Valencia County Animal Control, who viewed the video.

The incidents were caught on videotape by a neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous, but turned the video over to authorities.

After reviewing the tape, the Sheriff’s office notified animal control, which recovered the puppy and another dog from Tapia’s home.

Tapia recently adopted the puppy a Lab-Shepherd mix, named Buddy, from Valencia County Animal Control, which also operates as a shelter.

But, the shelter “has no screening process,” said Jaramill, who is also a certified cruelty investigator. “We give the majority of the people the benefit of the doubt. We assume they will be a responsible pet owner.”

“As a government entity, we don’t have the right to judge people or not allow them to adopt,” Jamarill said of why the abuse was not preventable. “I’m sure we’ll have something in place in the near future.”

While the case against Tapia is pending, the dogs have returned to the shelter, which has received more than 100 calls inquiring on adoption of the animals, says Jaramill.

Tapia was not charged with abuse with respect to the other dog, a Rottweiler cross, but the animal was removed for its own safety.

The charge of failure to sterilize an animal by contract relates to Tapia’s agreement with Valencia County Animal Control to sterilize the animal, but failed to do so.

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