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EASTPOINTE, Mich. (WJBK) - WARNING THE VIDEO ABOVE MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME VIEWERS
The Detroit Pit Crew has rescued a dog after video surfaced that appeared to show the dog's owner slamming its head into a brick wall.
Meatball is a 98 pound Mastiff. Today, he's safe, but he allegedly was beaten by his owner on Friday at his home in Eastpointe. The owner's neighbor, Tim England captured it on video while his finacee called Eastpointe police. The video was so disturbing, Tim teared up just talking about what he saw.
"He used the back of his first to hit the dog. He went inside and pushed the dog on the ground, kicked the dog in the face, pushed him back on the ground kicked him again, went inside and came back out. That's when he started pushing him against the house," England said.
In the video, you can see him hitting the dog and even banging it against the side of the house. Tim says he showed the video to police and they went to the house but the owner wouldn't come to the door. Then they left.
By Sunday, Tim still had not seen Meatball or the police so he went to Detroit Pit Crew for help. As Theresa Sumpter explains, they then posted part of the video on Facebook and got action.
"Then we got a million messages and a million phone calls and everybody started we did ask that people contact the Eastpointe Police Department to find out the status and ask why they were not doing anything about this," Sumpter said.
On Wednesday, they they showed up with a search warrant and a battering ram and forced their way into the home. The owner wasn't inside but Meatball was and police saved him.
Police and prosecutors will determine what charges, if any, the owner could face. Meatball has some marks from his choke chain, marks on the top of his head, and he's now under the care of a veterinarian for now and will hopefully be adopted out to a loving home in the future. Sumpter says this should be cut and dry against the owner.
"This is clearly animal abuse and that needs to be prosecuted it's a crime that happened. We expect for the police department to step up and do their job and to make sure that the dog is safe," Sumpter said.
When contacted for comment, police would only say that the case remains under investigation. The identity of the owner has not been released.