'Disgusting criminal' illegal alien tortured dogs at animal training center in Las Vegas, DHS says
The abuse was captured on secret video from a woman who had hired on at the company.
An illegal alien accused of torturing dogs at the animal shelter where he worked was arrested and charged with animal torture, according to a Department of Homeland Security statement.
The alleged animal abuse at the Working Dogs of Nevada training facility in Las Vegas was first reported by a woman who applied for a job and surreptitiously took video of the treatment of the dogs in February.
'This disgusting criminal tortured dogs at the shelter where he worked.'
Those allegations led to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Animal Cruelty Section performing a search warrant at the business and the removal of 35 dogs on April 1.
John Young Cotter Johnstone, 38, was arrested at that time and charged with four felony counts of willfully or maliciously torturing, maiming, or mutilating an animal kept for companionship or pleasure.
Tabitha Berube, 32, was also arrested and charged with one count of the same crime.
On Tuesday, DHS confirmed that Johnstone was an illegal alien from the United Kingdom after he entered the country in 2021 but overstayed his visa since Feb. 2022. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a detainer request the day after his arrest, and he was turned over to federal custody.
Some of the secret video footage was published by KTNV-TV and showed a man kicking and dragging a dog.
DHS said the other videos provided to police showed Johnstone using shock collars and swinging dogs in mid-air by their leashes.
"This disgusting criminal tortured dogs at the shelter where he worked,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said.
“Thanks to the cooperation of Clark County officials who honored the ICE detainer, this freak is in ICE custody," she added. "Seven of the 10 safest cities cooperate with ICE. We need more state and local politicians to work with us to keep criminals off our streets and out of our country."
The woman who recorded the alleged abuse later adopted two of the dogs, according to the KTNV report.
"Seeing the use of the shock collars and the way the dog was screaming because he was being shocked and being drug across the floor, it was a horrible thing to witness," she told KVVU-TV.
"Everything in me, I wanted to tell them to not do that to an animal, but I knew if I did I wouldn't be able to get the evidence that I did get," she added.
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