MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 40-year-old man accused of killing two puppies appeared in court on Monday in Miami-Dade County.
Christopher M. Lewis appeared before Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge David H. Young, who allowed his release on house arrest.
Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies responded shortly before 10:50 a.m. on Jan. 20 at Southwest 214 Street and 114 Avenue, records showed.
Lewis told deputies that the puppies’ mother had chased and bitten his mother, so he armed himself with a brick, according to the arrest report.
Lewis admitted “to taking one of the mother’s puppies and smashing it ... to scare the mother off,” according to the deputies’ arrest report. “He disposed of the puppy’s body in a nearby trash can ... and collected the other puppies in a box.”
Deputies reported finding “one puppy deceased by unknown means, and the other puppy in the nearby trash can with signs of blunt force trauma,” according to the arrest report.
Miami-Dade Animal Control took custody of the eight other puppies. Prosecutors later asked Young to increase Lewis’s penalty.
Lewis faced two counts of intentional, malicious, or aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony. Young increased his bond from $5,000 to $50,000 after prosecutors asked for a $40,000 bond, records show.
Lewis was at the Miami-Dade County Pre-Trial Detention Center on Monday afternoon, according to inmate records.
Local 10 News Assignment Editor Carson Merlo contributed to this report.
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