Surveillance footage captured a Texas contractor swinging a pipe wrench at a family’s two dogs while in their backyard in March.
Mike Willcox, the owner of the dogs, posted the footage to Facebook, which quickly went viral, gaining some 1.2 million plays online. Wilcox says he was outraged after his 4-year-old son watched the contractor for local Houston utility CenterPoint Energy attack dogs “Flash” and “Shutter” with a metal pipe wrench, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune.
Warning: graphic content – viewers may find the following footage disturbing
A CenterPoint Energy spokesman say that they are conducting an investigation and that the utility worker was employed by a subcontractor hired to disconnect the Wilcox’s service during non-payment, according to local station KHOU.
Wilcox told KHOU that his vet bills totaled some $2,000. One of the dogs suffered a laceration under it’s left eye, a swollen, infected jaw and a concussion and the second dog is suffering from breathing problems.
“I don’t think my dogs ever had a chance,” Willcox told the Houston Chronicle.
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