Font ResizeLAS CRUCES - A Las Cruces man has been indicted on a charge of extreme animal cruelty after he allegedly killed his 4-month-old puppy by stepping on its throat for several minutes.
Richard Nelson McCord, 41, of 819 Parkview Drive, was arrested Jan. 23. A Do-a Ana County grand jury on Thursday formally charged him with one count of extreme animal cruelty, a fourth-degree felony.
A witness reported seeing McCord the day before, chasing the 4-month-old female border collie-mix before he allegedly grabbed the puppy by its neck, placed it against a fence and kicked the dog eight times until it quit yelping.
McCord may have killed the puppy later that day by stepping on its neck for five minutes or longer, according to police. McCord then allegedly wrapped the dog in a carpet and threw the dog in a trash bin at his apartment complex.
A Las Cruces animal control officer was called that day to investigate a claim of animal abuse, but McCord reportedly told the officer "he stepped on the dog's neck for approximately five minutes or longer because the dog was hit by a car."
