Prosecutors: Man charged in killing of family member's dog in Hamptons

A Springs man was arraigned Tuesday on animal cruelty charges after prosecutors said he choked and repeatedly stabbed his aunt and uncle's dog to death.

Jose J. Galvez-Garcia, 21, was arrested Monday after the mutilated body of a 4-year-old Cockapoo named Simba was discovered in the woods in Springs, police said.

Galvez-Garcia was arraigned Tuesday in East Hampton Justice Court on a charge of aggravated cruelty to animals, a class E felony. He was held on $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond and ordered to stay away from his mother, stepfather, aunt and uncle.

He was represented in court by the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County.

According to East Hampton Town police, Galvez-Garcia "carried out the act because he was angry with the way he had been treated by a family member who owned the dog."

Galvez-Garcia stole the dog from his aunt and uncle's home in East Hampton on Sunday night and drove to a secluded area on Breeze Hill Road, police said. There he "choked and repeatedly stabbed the dog to death" before depositing its body about 50 feet from the road, police said.

The suspect choked the dog and, "for no justifiable purpose," repeatedly stabbed Simba in the neck, head and torso with a kitchen knife equipped with a six inch blade, killing the animal, according to charging documents

Galvez-Garcia's aunt found Simba's body Monday morning, prosecutors said.

He is due back in court Dec. 7.

By Joie Tyrrell

joie.tyrrell@newsday.com,robert.brodsky@newsday.com@JoieTyrrell,

Joie Tyrrell is a Long Island native and covers education for Newsday, where she has worked since 1998.