Donna man charged with animal cruelty

A 46-year-old Donna man is facing a charge of animal cruelty after a woman bought four Shih Tzus from him that were severely neglected and required medical attention.

The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office arrested Luis Adalberto Nieto last Friday and charged him with animal cruelty.

The investigation began on Sept. 14 when a deputy was dispatched to north of Mile 11 1/2 north on FM 493 and then west to the 1900 block of Laurel Court, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The reporting party told the deputy she bought four Shih Tzus from Nieto that looked severely neglected and required medical attention. Additionally, she said there were two more Shih Tzus that needed to be rescued, authorities say.

“Deputy Clark observed to (sic) dogs to have matted fur, embedded worms in the fur, hair loss, and scabbed skin as a result of not providing care to the dogs,” the affidavit states.

The woman took the dogs she bought to her groomer who found open scab wounds and maggots embedded underneath the dogs’ hair, according to the document.

“Sheriff Investigators observed video and pictures of the shih tzu’s … to show erytherma (redness of the skin caused by infection and inlammation), their hair to have been neglected for so long that it got severely matted and entwined, have foul odor from not being washed, observing one dog to have maggots, and another dog to have an eye infection that had not been taken care of,” the affidavit states.

The sheriff’s office says a veterinarian evaluated the animals twice and came to the same conclusions.

Nieto bailed out on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond the same day he was arrested, records show.