Suspect brutally beats husky with rubber mallet, causing multiple fractures, blindness: Video

A Florida woman has been arrested after she allegedly beat a dog with a rubber mallet, causing the animal significant harm.

Last August, the unidentified owner of Maya, a 9-year-old husky, began to notice inexplicable injuries on her furry friend. After several such instances, the dog's veterinarian suggested that the owner install a secret camera in her home in Town 'N' Country, Florida, near Tampa, to see what had been happening to the dog when she wasn't around.

What the owner learned from her clandestine investigation is truly despicable. Surveillance footage appears to show Elizabeth Jaimes, the girlfriend of the dog owner's son, viciously striking Maya with a rubber mallet while Maya yelps and howls in pain. Maya attempted to evade the attack but couldn't because the suspect was holding her leash, forcing the dog to withstand further abuse.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office received the video footage on Monday and released the footage on its YouTube channel several days later. Warning: The contents are very disturbing.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, who described himself as "a dog lover," spoke for many when he stated that it was "gut-wrenching to hear this precious animal cry for help."

When his deputies arrived at the residence where the abuse allegedly took place, they immediately took Maya in for treatment at Veterinary Emergency Group. Personnel there later confirmed that Maya had suffered "multiple blunt-force head and back injuries, including spine and rib fractures," and had gone blind in one eye, the sheriff's report stated. Maya continues to heal and has been reunited with her owner, who has since filed an injunction against Jaimes.

Jaimes and her boyfriend had begun sharing the residence with Maya and her owner back in August, shortly before the injuries began. When confronted about the abuse captured on video, Jaimes allegedly admitted that she hit the dog after it "growled" at her.

"The actions of Elizabeth Jaimes are reprehensible. No animal deserves to be treated cruelly and inhumanely, and we will not tolerate it," said Sheriff Chronister.

Jaimes — a community college student and a manager at Starbucks, according to jail records — was arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals with a weapon, a second-degree felony. She has since been released on $7,500 bail. It is unclear when she is next scheduled to appear in court.

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