A Hollywood man who police say shot a caged dog in a Davie veterinary clinic appeared before a judge Wednesday morning and was ordered held on a $25,000 bond, much to the relief of the clinic owner who is a childhood friend of the dog’s owner.
“We were always worried about the guy coming back,” said Dr. Javier Borrero, who owns the Aycock Veterinary Clinic. “We didn’t know who he was.”
Chayse Billie, 21, rode his bicycle to the clinic about 7 a.m. Friday, parked the bike, pulled out a gun and fired at least four shots into the cage, according to the probable cause affidavit from Davie police.
Billie then used the flashlight feature on his cellphone to look in the cage, picked up what appeared to be spent shell casings and left on foot, leaving his bicycle behind, the report said
Veterinary workers, including Borrero’s mother, arrived about 15 minutes later to open the clinic and while checking on the dogs they noticed Matilda, a 9-year-old Labrador mix, had blood on her bowl.
They initially thought Matilda might have had a heart attack and died. But when Borrero arrived and turned Matilda over he noticed bullet holes. That’s when they called police.
Matilda is owned by Daniel Perez, a Miami firefighter and U.S. Army veteran and reservist. Perez has been friends with Borrero since they were 10 years old.
Perez is currently in Puerto Rico for reserve duties.
Borrero called Perez and told him what happened. They’d had an arrangement for years that Borrero would care for Matilda when Perez needed care for the dog.
“He started saying, ‘What?! That’s not possible,’” Borrero said.
After Borrero called police he viewed surveillance video and saw what happened. He said the suspect was looking around the facility at first and then noticed Matilda in a cage.
Borrero called the act “unbelievable” and added Matilda was shot “for no reason.”
Davie police, along with the Seminole Tribe of Florida police, arrested Billie at his house Tuesday in Hollywood. Police said Billie confessed to the crime. He was taken to the Broward Main Jail and charged with one count of animal cruelty.
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