BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – A South Florida man was arrested Wednesday after he beat his roommate's dog and tied the pet to a doorknob in the backyard as punishment for chewing his shoes, police said.
Marquan Parks, 22, of Boynton Beach, was arrested on a charge of animal cruelty.
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According to a Boynton Beach police report, Parks beat the dog in September while his roommate was in Miami to tend to a family medical emergency.
Donovyn Gousse told police that he asked another roommate, Guilherme Mallmann, to watch his two dogs while he was away. However, when Gousse returned home, he found his dog Puma dead in the backyard.
Police said Puma was wearing a choke chain and was tethered to the back doorknob with a leash.
Gousse showed police a Facebook screenshot of a conversation between user "Deww Parks" and another person. In the conversation, Parks wrote "dogs with no food or water for week all I did was punch it in the nose a few times then left." Another message from Parks said, "How df else do u discipline a pit bull foh bitch that runs around the world if it's not chained up."
Police said Gousse told them that Parks admitted to hitting and tying Puma to the doorknob, but Parks said the dog was alive when he last saw her.
A veterinarian who performed the dog's necropsy concluded that Puma died of probable strangulation and contributing factors like heat stroke. According to the report, the dog's eyes were bulged out and there was noticeable swelling to the dog's neck, throat and tongue, as well as pooled blood in the mouth.
According to the report, Parks told detectives in a sworn interview that Gousse's dogs often defecated and chewed things left inside the house. Parks said he came home Sept. 26 and discovered that Puma had chewed up his Nike Air Jordan basketball shoes and defecated inside.
Parks told police that he punched Puma three times in the face and put both dogs in the backyard before leaving. When he returned home, Parks noticed that Puma had escaped and was running loose outside his neighbor's home, so he tied her to the back doorknob to prevent her from escaping again.
According to the report, Parks told police that it was hot at the time.
"I could have gave the dog water, but I didn't," Parks told police.
According to the report, Parks told them that he felt it was Mallmann's responsibility to care for the dogs. Parks said he "never meant to hurt the dog" but realized that his actions led to Puma's death.
Police said they tried to speak with Mallmann about what happened but were unsuccessful.
Parks was booked into the main Palm Beach County jail and later released on $3,000 bond.