Crime & Safety
UPDATED: Framingham Man Charged With Animal Cruelty for Whipping Dogs
Man tied dogs to a shopping cart to pull cement bricks and a bag of cement down Concord Street.
Framingham Police, responding to a complaint, arrested a Framingham man using two dogs to pull a shopping cart filled with cement bricks and a bag of cement and whipping the dogs if they stopped in 90 degree heat on Wednesday evening.
Richard Capalucci, 54, of 49 Lawrence St. of Framingham was arrested at Concord St and Anzio Road on Wednesday at 6:29 p.m. and charged with animal cruelty, a felony.
Framingham Police Lt. Ron Brandolini said on Wednesday after 5 p.m. a caller said a shirtless man wearing shorts was beating a dog with a rope and that the two dogs were tied to a shopping cart. The caller said the dog collapsed on the ground and the man whipped the dog until it got back up.
Framingham Police responded to the intersection of Routes 30 and 126 but could not find the person in question, according to the police report.
Less than an hour later, Framingham Police officer Brian Curtis observed a man with two dogs tied to a shopping cart and that the dogs were in obvious distress. The shopping cart was loaded with cement bricks and a bag of cement and both dogs were tied to the cart with rope.
After observing the man with the dogs, the officer arrested him and charged him with animal cruelty, said Brandolini.
Framingham Police K-9 Officer Christopher Langmeyer arrived and provided aid to both dogs, who were "trembling and panting heavily with their tongues hanging out," according to the police report.
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The smaller female Jack Russell dog was lying on the hot sidewalk and drinking profusely out of the water bag provided by police. The larger of the two dogs, a female Shepherd mix, too appeared to be in distress due to the heat and stress of the event, said Brandolini.
The dogs were being made to pull the heavy shopping cart filled with cement bricks and a bag of cement, like sled dogs.
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The dogs were then taken to Framingham Animal Control.
Capalucci was arraigned at the district court in Framingham on Thursday. He posted $500 cash bail on Thursday. A condition of his bail is that he is not to own or be in contact with any domesticated animal. He was allowed to keep his pigeon but can not have any other animals.He is scheduled to appear in court again on Sept. 5 for a pre-trial conference.
Editor's Note: Originally published at 10:40 a.m. on July 19, 2013.
Intern Whitney Cyr contributed to this report.
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