NEED TO KNOW
- A California man faces up to 13 years in state prison if convicted on charges related to the brutal execution of his pregnant 6-year-old Maltese dog
- Authorities allege Eric Lyn Holliday killed his dog by tying a rope to a parking bollard and his SUV before wrapping the rope around the dog’s neck and accelerating the vehicle to snap its neck
- Holliday, 58, is accused of then leaving the animal in an alley before police later used security footage to track him down and arrest him
California authorities claimed this week that there’s “a special place in hell” for an Orange County man accused of brutally killing a pregnant 6-year-old Maltese earlier this month, as the man now faces charges in the dog’s death.
“Only someone who is pure evil could engage in such reprehensible conduct,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement this week, announcing multiple felony charges against Eric Lyn Holliday.
Holliday, 58, is accused of killing his dog by tying a rope from his SUV to a parking bollard, looping it around the animal’s neck, and “driving until the animal’s neck had been snapped,” Spitzer alleged.
The Buena Park, Calif., man — who was on probation at the time after pleading guilty to a felony assault charge on Oct. 15 in an unrelated case — has now been charged with one felony count of animal cruelty and another for possession of a hard drug with two or more prior convictions. Holliday, who authorities allege had “several baggies of methamphetamine” on him at the time of his arrest, faces up to 13 years in prison if convicted on both of the felony charges.
“There is a special place in hell for people who abuse animals,” Spitzer said in a statement. “This was not an act of rage. This was a clear plan to kill a defenseless animal, and when he executed his plan, he drove off, leaving the animal’s body in the alley for someone else to discover the horror of what he had done.”
The alleged incident occurred in an alley in Anaheim, according to the district attorney’s office, which alleges nearby video surveillance shows Holliday turning his car into the alley around 7:35 a.m. on Dec. 1. Security footage also captured the incident, including Holliday allegedly getting out of his car and securing the rope to the parking bollard and his dog’s neck.
After allegedly killing the dog, “Holliday is seen on the video getting out to look at the dog before getting back in his vehicle and driving away, leaving the dead dog in the alley,” the district attorney’s office claims.
“The dog, believed to be a 6-year-old Maltese, had suffered a severed spine and arteries,” the release states.
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The animal was discovered several hours later when a manager of a nearby business found the animal in the alley and called police.
“Violence against animals will never be tolerated, and every act of animal abuse will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Spitzer vowed in his statement. According to Spitzer’s office, Deputy District Attorney Michael Chay of the Consumer & Environmental Protection Unit will prosecute the case.
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