Contractor caught on camera beating dogs with wrench at Texas home
Police in Texas have opened an investigation after a contractor with CenterPoint Energy was caught smacking two dogs with a wrench in the backyard of a Houston family.
The worker reportedly walked into the family's backyard without knocking or prior warning. He was there to cut off service to the home of the Wilcox family, who said service was only cut off because the family had mistakenly not signed up for automatic payment.
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In surveillance video of the incident, the worker seems to bash both of the Wilcox's 8-year-old dogs across the face.
The dogs suffered eye and jaw damage, and one will undergo surgery, according to the video.
The family reportedly expects to pay around $2,000 in veterinary costs.
The company said in a statement that it does "not condone or tolerate abuse of animals by our employees or our contractors. We have notified the contract company and they have assured us that they will conduct a full investigation into the incident.”
The contractor reportedly said the Wilcox family sent their dogs after him when they learned their service was about to be cut, but the full video reportedly disputes that claim.
"Here's our dogs in their own backyard where they're supposed to be safe and sleep," Mike Wilcox said. "But to be woken up by a stranger five or six feet away from them...I mean, it's pretty upsetting."
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Topics Animals
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
