NY woman charged with beating dog with shovel

NEW YORK After months of alleged abuse, a livid neighbor got what he felt was proof of animal abuse by using a camera phone in late February.

The video allegedly shows Maria Aguilar tossing 11-month-old Spike across a patio and against an iron fence.

The English bulldog then cowars down, and Aguilar allegedly picks up an orange snow shovel and smacks the pup over the head.

From there, she tosses him aside, you can't see what happens next in the video, but you can hear the puppy's cries.

The ASPCA says Spike is virtually blind in his right eye, has a hip fracture, broken leg, three broken teeth and injuries to his ears.

But Aguilar's husband and son say Spike was fine when agents took custody of him.

They showed us their cell phone video of what they say was a loved and adored family member.

"Just the way you see him here that's how they took him. He was fine," said Victor Estudillo, Aguilar's husband.

"He was alright. He laughed. He ran," said Victor Estudillo, Aguilar's son.

Aguilar's husband took Spike to the vet 12 times in the last seven months.

He says he's spent about $7,000 in vet bills because Spike was a sickly dog, not a victim of abuse.

But, investigators say Maria Aguilar confessed to animal abuse Friday, after they showed the Jackson Heights woman this video.

"She only corrected the dog because she was eating the plastic," said Victor Estudillo.

"I'm witness she never hurt any dogs," said Ale Gaafar, Aguilar's neighbor.

You can watch the video released by the ASPCA above, we want to warn you, it is disturbing.

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