Redwood City Man Pleads No Contest To Torturing Puppy To Death In Front Of Daughter

REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- A man accused of torturing a puppy to death in front of his 4-year-old daughter pleaded no contest to child endangerment charges in Redwood City on Friday in exchange for no more than three years in prison, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

Alan Velete, 32, also pleaded no contest to violating his probation for felony assault and a restraining order when he moved into the Redwood City apartment belonging to his girlfriend's mother.

Redwood City police arrested Velete in January after he killed their puppy Lucky, which he tortured for weeks in front of his daughter after becoming enraged that the 4-month-old terrier defecated on the floor, prosecutors said.

He punched and kicked the puppy, sprayed it in the eyes with household cleaners, kept it in a crate in the bathroom, put it in a duffel bag and hung the bag in the shower and listened to it whimper for hours, taped its mouth shut and force fed it his psychiatric drugs, prosecutors said.

Velete's girlfriend and her mother were afraid to call police but her mother finally did after he suffocated the dog on Jan. 6, put it in a duffel bag and threw it in the garbage, prosecutors said.

She made an anonymous call to police and Velete was arrested three days later.

He entered the plea Friday in the courtroom of Judge Elizabeth Lee in exchange for no more than three years in prison. He remains in custody under $50,000 bail and is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 28, prosecutors said.

Redwood City