DETROIT – Officials have revealed the identity of the 29-year-old Detroit man accused of viciously beating a blue pit bull puppy because it chewed his $50 replica Cartier sunglasses, officials said.
The incident happened March 1 at a home on Mettetal Street in Detroit, according to authorities.
Wayne County prosecutors said the puppy broke Lenard Maurice Shaw’s sunglasses, so he filmed himself beating the dog unconscious.
Shaw, 29, of Detroit, is also accused of putting the puppy in a garbage can outside his then-home on March 15. The dog survived, officials said.
Social media outrage over the beating video eventually alerted Detroit police and the Michigan Humane Society. They arrested Shaw on Tuesday (March 21).
“I have seen cases in the past where someone lost their life over a pair of sunglasses,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. “This is the first one that I have encountered where a completely defenseless dog was allegedly savagely beaten over a broken pair of sunglasses. It defies logic and basic humanness that anyone would think this is acceptable.”
Shaw is charged with second-degree killing/torturing animals, a seven-year felony, and abandoning/cruelty to one animal, a 93-day misdemeanor.
“While there are no priors, and while these are just charges, this describes a savage beating of a small puppy,” 36th District Court Magistrate Malaika Ramsey-Heath said. “More concerning -- or maybe not more concerning, but lending to the credibility of the allegations -- is the statement in the investigator’s report that he was upset that the dog broke a pair of his sunglasses and recorded himself beating the dog for it and sent the owner of the dog video of the beating.
“The owner of the dog later hearing what’s described as a faint whimpering outside of her home. She was in the hospital at the time this occurred. She went out and found her puppy in the trash can -- her son’s emotional support animal.”
Ramsey-Heath said Shaw confessed to assaulting the dog and recording that beating on his cellphone. He also admitted to throwing the dog in the garbage can, she said.
“It is extremely cruel, not only to the animal, but to the owner of the animal and to her son, who, apparently this was his emotional support animal, in some way,” Ramsey-Heath said.
Shaw was arraigned Friday morning at 36th District Court and given a $50,000 cash bond. A bond redetermination hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday.
“I do think that (he’s) a danger to the community: the taking away, viciously, of someone’s emotional support animal, doing it, allegedly, in such a blatant way that video was recorded of it and was posted for public viewing, sent to the owner,” Ramsey-Heath said. “It concerns me that it’s, quite frankly, the kind of thing that could escalate. If you want to hurt a person by destroying a living, breathing thing that is important to them and sending them video of it, I don’t know what he might do to that person the next time he wants to inflict emotional pain upon them.”
A probable cause conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 31, and a preliminary examination is scheduled for 9 a.m. April 5.
