MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING DOG DURING GROOMING APPOINTMENT ARRESTED

TULSA, Okla. –

Tulsa Animal Welfare officers arrested a dog groomer after viewing a video they say shows a dog being beaten, then partially hung from a groomer’s lead inside a South Tulsa grooming business. The dog died.

Investigators visited Doggy Doodles Grooming to investigate after an employee reported a coworker had beaten the dog on September 1, but it wasn’t until they viewed a video of the beating that they had evidence to arrest the groomer, Diego Angel. After the arrest warrant was issued, Angel was arrested at a dog show in Elk City, Oklahoma, and returned to Tulsa, where he was jailed. He has since posted bond and been released.

The dog, a four-year-old poodle named Atlas, was taken in for a routine grooming, according to his owner, who said they had used the business several times before. He said the owner called and told him his dog had suffered a seizure and was taken to a veterinarian, where he died. Investigators said they started an investigation after the co-worker’s tip and later got the video from inside the business that confirmed the account. The video shows the dog dying after a man, who investigators say is Angel, beat it, then suspended the dog in a head-high position using a lead on a grooming table. After the pole holding the lead was adjusted higher, the dog never moved again on the video.

The officer obtained a 20-minute video showing the beating from two angles. It happened while several other people were working nearby, sometimes within steps of the groomer. After the dog is unresponsive, he was removed from the table, where the video shows Angel and others trying to revive it, then taking the dog out to a nearby vet clinic. Investigators later took the dog for a necropsy in Stillwater.

Angel is charged with a single felony count of cruelty to animals.

The video, obtained by News on 6, shows the dog and groomer together without incident for more than 5 minutes after the dog is carried into the room. Eventually, as the dog resists some drying, the video shows a man beating him on and off over another 10 minutes while the dog becomes increasingly agitated. At one point, the dog is taken into another room, which investigators said was for washing, and then returned into view where more beatings happen. Eventually, the dog is dragged off the table, and investigators say it appears the dog was choked by the groomer. The results of the necropsy have not been released, and the first hearing in the case has not yet been scheduled.