Austin officer charged with cruelty

An Austin police officer has been charged with endangering a child and cruelty to a non-livestock animal after his neighbor reportedly shot video of him beating a dog in front of his child. 

Kyle police arrested Christopher Joseph Vetrano, 47, and booked him into the Hays County Jail on July 27. He was released on $30,000 bond, jail records show.

According to the arrest affidavits, Vetrano’s neighbor presented Kyle police with several videos of Vetrano hitting his dog, Shelby, a seven-year-old, 60-pound female Australian Kelpie. The incident reportedly occurred May 24. In one video, the affidavit says, Vetrano is holding a long red stick with a black handle “similar to a broom or rake. Vetrano is heard yelling at the dog, ‘Bite me!’ ‘Bite me!’ Vetrano then states: ‘I will (expletive) kill you dog!’ The dog is heard yelping.”

Vetrano’s 10-year-old child is seen in the video witnessing the incident.

Kyle Animal Control required Shelby to undergo a physical examination. The dog’s health evaluation occurred 11 days after the alleged incident, according to the arrest affidavit. The veterinarian reportedly could not find a specific area of pain and reported that Shelby was nervous, had a stiff hindlimb gait and an overall tense abdomen. The dog showed no signs of aggression, according to the veterinarian’s report. 

In June, Vetrano voluntarily spoke with police with his attorney present and said he was disciplining the dog because it digs in the yard. He did not allow investigators to speak with his child, the affidavit states.

Child Protective Services was notified because of the verbal and emotional abuse the child witnessed. Furthermore, a dog training and behavior specialist told a Kyle detective that using a stick broom is not an appropriate way to discipline a canine and that Vetrano put his child in danger by trying to be the dominant aggressor; once the dominant aggressor is out of the picture, canines tend to attack weaker subjects, such as children.

The arrest affidavit for cruelty to a non-livestock animal states that based on the video, there is probable cause to believe that Vetrano “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly tortured (unjustified physical abuse) a non-livestock animal (canine) which subjected the animal to unjustified pain and suffering.”

A Kyle Police Department spokesperson said that Shelby was taken in by the PAWS shelter and is in a foster home. 

Court records show that Vetrano was a defendant in a 2016 lawsuit against the city of Austin and several Austin police officers alleging excessive force. The defendant in the case received gunshot wounds but was not shot by Vetrano, according to court records. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman partially granted the officers’ motion to dismiss the case but denied the city of Austin’s motion to dismiss.