A woman who was caught on camera beating a small dog with her shoe at a southwest Atlanta apartment complex has been arrested and charged with animal cruelty nearly two months after the incident, police said.
Dwanisha Rayniece Hitchens was arrested Monday on one misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals, Atlanta police said in a news release. Hitchens is accused of seriously beating a small white dog after it ran away Dec. 16 in an incident that was recorded by a neighbor’s Ring camera at the Landing Square apartments on Greenbriar Parkway.
The case began when the video was shared anonymously with Fulton County Animal Services, who then reported the tip to police. Investigators spoke with the management staff of the apartment complex and interviewed multiple residents at the time, but no one could identify the woman.
Nearly a month later, investigators released the video to the public and offered a $2,000 reward through Crime Stoppers for information leading to the woman’s arrest. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not sharing the video due to its disturbing nature.
Several weeks after the video was released in January, investigators were able to identify Hitchens as a suspect, establish probable cause and secure a warrant for her arrest, police said. She was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Fulton County jail, where she remains.
The dog survived the ordeal and was confiscated by Fulton County Animal Services along with another dog when Hitchens was arrested, according to Lara Hudson, the director of Lifeline Animal Project. She said both dogs were in fair condition and in the care of a rescue group that assists the county department.
Hudson said that anyone interested in assisting these dogs, or others confiscated in animal cruelty cases, can make donations at lifelineanimal.org.
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