Cops: Springs Man Choked, Stabbed Relative's Dog

A 21-year-old Springs man was arrested on animal cruelty charges after a dog's badly mutilated body was found Monday morning in a wooded area at the end of Breeze Hill Road in East Hampton.

East Hampton Town police said that Jose J. Galvez-Garcia, who lives on Cedar Drive in Springs, took a 4-year-old Cockapoo named Simba from a relative's property in East Hampton on Sunday evening. He drove to a secluded area on Breeze Hill Road and choked and repeatedly stabbed the dog to death, police said.

Simba's body was left in the woods about 50 feet from the road.

Later, during a police interview, Mr. Galvez-Garcia told police "he carried out the act because he was angry with the way he had been treated by a family member who owned the dog," according to a press release.

The dog's owners had been searching for it since it went missing on Sunday; one of them found it on Monday morning.

Mr. Galvez-Garcia was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony. He is being held for arraignment, set to take place in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Tuesday afternoon.

Detectives have asked that anyone with information call police at 631-537-7575. All calls will be kept confidential.