Dog beaten with axe handle Rancho Cucamonga, CA (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, Feb 5, 2003 County: San Bernardino Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Trinidad Calva

Case ID: 767 Classification: Beating Animal: dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in CA (US) Abuse was retaliation against animal's bad behavior Login to Watch this Case

A Montclair man suspected of beating his dog with a wooden ax handle was charged with felony animal cruelty Feb 13, 2003.

Prosecutors say 31-year-old Trinidad Calva delivered at least a half-dozen blows to the full-size rottweiler in plain sight of a Montclair police officer, who was conducting an unrelated traffic stop across the street from Calva's home Feb. 5.

The officer turned to see the beating after hearing the dog crying in pain, Deputy District Attorney Deborah Ploghaus said.  "The dog yelped and tried to escape but was chained to a post," Ploghaus said.

Calva told the officer he beat the dog because it chewed a pillow in his yard in the 3900 block of Mission Boulevard, Ploghaus said.  The dog survived, but was bleeding from its nose, mouth and right-rear leg. The animal could barely stand and was unable to put weight on its rear leg, the officer reported. Calva faces a sentence ranging from probation to jail time if convicted as charged.

He is tentatively set to be arraigned March 12 in West Valley Superior Court. He was arrested Feb. 5, but remains free on bail.

The rottweiler, named Titan, was seized by the Inland Valley Humane Society and treated for its injuries. Humane Society Investigator Allie Jalbert said investigators will push to have Calva relinquish custody of the animal.

Ploghaus said the police officer's observations make the case fairly simple to prosecute. "There's not a lot to it," she said. "We have the officer who saw everything."

Calva's case is the second felony animal cruelty case filed in the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse in the last three weeks.

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