Man Accused Of Punching His Service Dog At North Station

BOSTON (CBS) – Transit Police arrested a Boston man accused of punching his dog inside North Station. John Bowen allegedly punched his service dog and is also accused of kneeling on the dog forcefully, then lifting it off the ground by its leash.

Witness William Miller showed Transit Police video of the incident. "He got on top of the dog with his knees on his rib cage, telling him to not move," Miller told WBZ-TV.

Bowen, who is a level three sex offender, was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals. Inspectional Services took over from there, named the husky Sarah and brought her to Boston's Animal Care Shelter where she will undergo medical tests.

"Sarah is a beautiful 9 month old Husky," said John Meaney, assistant commissioner of Boston Inspectional Services. "She's been treated with nothing but love and respect since she's come to the shelter."

Sarah is now in the custody of the City of Boston until the end of the case.

"She appears relatively healthy to us although she is limping somewhat on the hind end. And, it may in fact be from something from last night. Which is in part why we're going to be doing the full body radiograph," said Amanda Kennedy of Boston Animal Care and Control.

Bowen was held on $5,000 cash bail on the animal abuse case and had his bail revoked on an unrelated case out of Malden. He is next scheduled to appear in court on November 22.