Attempted burglar brutally kills Garland family dog

GARLAND, Texas - Backyard surveillance cameras captured a man beating a puppy to death before trying to break into a Garland home.

Guadalupe Gonzalez was the only person home Monday afternoon when her surveillance cameras picked up a man in her backyard.

Gonzalez was expecting someone and wondered how they'd gotten into the back, so she opened the door to confront the man. That was when she noticed the man was holding her 5-month-old puppy, Poseidon Jr.

Gonzalez said she asked the man who he was and what he was doing with her dog. She locked herself inside and called 911.

Garland police say the man was 28-year-old Fermin Rivera. He had already cornered the Bichon-Maltese mix, lifted the dog over his head and slammed it down with all his strength on the concrete slab twice.

The dog was still moving as Rivera walked to a garbage can. He then grabbed a nearby shovel and began digging furiously to bury the dog, even placing cement borders and a potted plant on top. Police then pulled up to the house.

“He was very calm,” said Garland Police Lt. Pedro Barineau. “He had this demeanor about him like he was under control that he lived there, but our investigation revealed he did not live there.”

Gonzalez didn't know what had happened to her dog until she watched the video of her puppy's violent death. What she saw disgusted her.

The situation was suddenly more terrifying when Gonzalez thought of what could have happened had Fermin gotten inside and her three young children had been home.Fermin gotten inside and her three young children had been home.

“Being confronted by a witness -- in this case, the homeowner -- leads us to believe this was a very dangerous person,” said Barineau.

Gonzalez says she wants Rivera to pay for what he did to the puppy because she doesn’t want him to hurt anyone else.

Rivera is facing felony counts of animal cruelty charges and attempted burglary charges.