The dogs were later found safe after being captured on camera tied to the bumper of a moving car in Queens. Charles Watson reports.
A Queens man is facing animal cruelty charges after an incident caught on video showed a driver dragging two dogs behind the car — all because he apparently did not want them pooping in the vehicle.
Both dogs are recovering after the disturbing weekend ride in Long Island City. Video making the rounds on social media show two dogs’ leashes tied to the back of a maroon Volkswagen. Both canines can be seen struggling to keep up as their owner drives down the street.
The disturbing incident happened Sunday near the intersection of 11th Street and 43rd Avenue.
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“It’s sad. I don’t like that. It’s upsetting for the dogs,” Michele Gelling, who lives in the neighborhood, said Wednesday.
According to a criminal complaint, a witness saw the dogs being dragged down the road as 68-year-old Dan Bujor drove the car. It was not until one of the dogs became unhooked that a witness said Bujor grabbed the dogs and put them inside his car.
Police eventually caught up to Bujor and arrested the man. He has since been charged with two counts of animal cruelty and driving without a license.
Court records show he told officers that he tied the dogs to the back because he “didn’t want them pooping inside the car.”
Records show the dogs — whose names are Marzipan and Nougat — were taken to an ASPCA facility where one is being treated for a ruptured ear drum and the other for bruises to the paws.
Jennifer Brooks, the founder of New York City Second Chance Rescue, said she knows Bujor from animal adoption events her organization has hosted in the past. She said the man loves animals and no doubt had a lapse in judgement.
“I have seen him with one of the dogs that was tied to the car. It was a German Shepard and anytime I’ve seen him in the past he cared for the dog and the dog looked pretty well cared for,” she said.
