‘Makes you heartsick’ – New York Daily News – NewsEverything New York

A sadistic Queens dog owner inflicted multiple horrific beatings on his Boston terrier puppy before the battered pet died from its brutal injuries, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Paul Verite faces multiple animal cruelty and abuse charges for his alleged violent attacks on his puppy Espy between September and the dog’s November death. When the 10-week-old dog died, a necropsy showed 21 of her 26 ribs were fractured and authorities reported signs of a traumatic head injury.

“These injuries caused Espy to experience excruciating pain before her death,” Queens prosecutors said Tuesday.

The puppy was so severely injured that she could neither walk nor stand before her death, Queens prosecutors said, with Espy ultimately killed by a seizure brought on by the head wound.

“To see a trusting, defenseless creature brutalized the way this puppy was over the course of her short, tortured life makes you heartsick,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. “The defendant will be held to account for the violence he is alleged to have inflicted upon this poor animal.”

In the fall, Verite, 49, repeatedly took his puppy to both Austin Veterinary Care and Blue Pearl Animal Hospital for treatment of a range of injuries including a torn toenail, bruising to his head and a suspected traumatic brain injury. Verite was unable to explain to veterinarians how the dog suffered such extreme injuries, prosecutors said.

“The hospital is lying,” Verite told the Daily News at his Forest Hills home Tuesday. “I’m being falsely accused.”

During the dog’s final visit, Espy was rushed from Austin Veterinary Care to Blue Pearl Animal Hospital in critical condition. Told it was unsure surgery would be successful, Verite opted to have Espy euthanized.

Verite said it was his first time having a dog.

“My father died of lung cancer in April so I got the dog as an emotional support animal,” he told The News. “Dog bumped his head about a month and a half ago. I was holding him and he fell.”

A necropsy determined Espy had been routinely beaten and suffered from “multiple blunt force injuries prior to her death,” investigators noted. Over half her ribs were fractured in more than one place and were in various stages of healing.

Investigators arrested Verite on Feb. 6. He was given a desk appearance ticket and returned to court on Monday, when he was criminally charged. He was released without bail and is due back in court in April.

He faces up to two years in prison if convicted.