Dog left in cage died, police say; two arrested
Neighbor said pair of pets caged in sun
A husband and wife were arrested Saturday after police accused them of leaving two dogs in the sun, trapped in a cage that had reached more than 145 degrees. One of the dogs died.
About 3:10 p.m. Saturday, a neighbor called Metropolitan Police Department officers to a home on the 800 block of North Lamb Boulevard, near Washington Avenue. The neighbor said that about 2 p.m. Saturday he was in his backyard when he saw two dogs at his neighbor’s trailer in the sun, inside a cage with no food or water, according to the arrest report.
The neighbor told police the two dogs — one black and one white — “looked weak and the black dog had his nose stuck to the cage,” the report said. The neighbor and his daughter were able to get the white dog out of the cage, but they were unable to rescue the black dog.
When the neighbors realized the dogs were dying, they called police. By the time an officer arrived, the black dog was dead, according to the arrest report.
Police then contacted 22-yearold Lisandra Aguero Ruiz, who said she and her husband, 21-year-old Jorge Monte Agudo, owned the dogs. Aguero Ruiz told police she did not leave the dogs outside in the cage and that she believed the dogs had water.
An animal control officer measured the temperature inside the cage at 146 degrees, the report said.
The white dog was in “critical condition,” and the black dog died “from hunger and thirst,” an officer wrote in the report.
Aguero Ruiz and Monte Agudo were booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Saturday but were released after posting bond, court records show.
Both face a charge of willfully or maliciously torturing or killing an animal, court records show. They are scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 19.
Both dogs — named Ace and Athena — were 8-month-old pitbull-type dogs, the report said.
Martinez and Perez face two counts each of willfully or maliciously killing an animal and are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.