A man has been arrested in the case of a 10-week old puppy who was seen being abused outside a Center Point McDonald’s earlier this week.
Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies arrested Brock Woods on charges of aggravated animal cruelty, resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia and attempting to elude, according to the sheriff’s department.
Woods, 32, is being held in the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham with bonds totaling $30,000. He was taken into custody Thursday.
The arrest stems from an incident that was caught on camera Sunday evening outside the restaurant on 1907 Center Point Parkway Road. According to a statement from the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, witnesses saw– and the restaurant’s surveillance camera confirmed– a man dragging a small puppy by a leash across the restaurant parking lot. The witnesses said as the man approached the door to McDonald’s, he “continually suspended the puppy in the air, slung the puppy into a wall near the door, and then kicked it.”
The man was then joined by a woman, and the couple left the puppy on the sidewalk while they entered the McDonald’s.
The puppy could barely stand and couldn’t walk, GBHS CEO Allison Black Cornelius said. After witnesses called the sheriff’s department and a deputy responded, the GBHS Emergency On-Call Animal Control Officer met the deputy and immediately took the puppy to Steel City Emergency Clinic.
Cornelius said that GBHS named the puppy Luke.
“We are so grateful to the people that intervened and cared enough to call law enforcement. So we named the puppy Luke – the parable of the Good Samaritan is in the Gospel of Luke so it seemed like the perfect name. Had these people not called, the puppy may have died,” Cornelius added.
Luke is a 10-week-old Beagle and hound mix. Luke sustained severe injuries to his feet, pads, and nail beds during the abuse and is being treated at the GBHS Critical Care Clinic. Chief Veterinary Officer Lindy Alverson said Luke also suffered contusions in his side and to his head, and is anemic.
He is responding well to his treatment, the veterinarian said.