Suspect in dog abuse sought

Police in Northern California are looking for a woman seen throwing a pug onto the asphalt in a video that has been viewed tens of thousands of times on social media over the last week.

On the video posted to Facebook on Dec. 19, the Fairfield woman is shown marching up a driveway and dragging a black pug by its forelimb, while a purse dangles from her other arm.

The woman gets a running start, then tosses the dog like a bowling ball onto the pavement, where it slides and tumbles through a puddle before it springs to its feet and is scooped up by a second person.

The video has been viewed more than 50,000 times and shared by hundreds of people. On Saturday, Fairfield police addressed the controversy on its Facebook page, saying it is working with humane services to investigate the case and find the woman.

Sgt. Michael Ramirez of Solano County’s Humane Animal Services told KTXLTV that the woman reportedly is hiding in Vallejo.

“We are looking to file animal cruelty charges against her and have this dog removed from her because the dog doesn’t deserve that,” Ramirez told the station.

A man said to be the woman’s former boyfriend told KCRA-TV that the woman’s actions were a “heat of the moment” response to an argument.

“Me and her were arguing about personal things. It got blown up into something else and I think it just got out of hand,” the man told KCRA.