DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) – Police said they have arrested a man in connection to the fatal shooting of a dog inside a locked kennel at a veterinary clinic in Davie.
Davie Police confirmed 21-year-old Chayse Billie was taken into custody on Tuesday.
7News cameras captured the handcuffed suspect shortly after he arrived at the Broward County Jail.
Surveillance video shows the shooting that took place at Aycock Veterinary Clinic, located along the 5400 block of Stirling Road, at around 6 a.m. on Friday.
The dog’s owner, Daniel Perez, said the gunman discharged a firearm multiple times.
“A total of seven shots and just walked out, like nothing happened,” he said.
Tuesday night, Perez reacted to the news of Billie’s arrest.
“I’m glad that he’s been caught and he’s not going to hurt nobody else,” he said.
Perez, an emergency medical technician for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and an active U.S. Army Reserves Master Sergeant, said he would drop off Matilda, his Labrador-pointer mix, before work.
Perez said Matilda was only a best friend and loyal companion, but also a therapy dog, even if she was never formally trained.
“Nothing is going to replace her. She [had] an impact in my life,” he said.
Perez said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from what he’s experienced in combat on tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. He said Matilda did what his Veterans Affairs doctors could not.
“When I came back from my last deployment, I came kind of broken,” he said. “She knew when I was down. She knew when I was depressed. She kind of forced me to pet her, and without me knowing, I would pet her, and then I’d be calm, I’d be OK.”
Perez said he’s filled with mixed emotions. On one hand, he’s still mourning the loss of his dog; on the other, he’s thankful the person responsible is off the streets.
“He probably has done this, or he was planning to do it again,” he said. “It’s so cold, and very methodical.”
Perez had some words for the suspect.
“I’m glad that you got caught. You obviously have some serious issues, but you have to pay for what you did. You need to pay,” he said.
Police on Tuesday issued a “Be on the Lookout” for the gunman. Hours later, they said, he was placed under arrest with assistance from Seminole Police.
Perez said he has never met Billie before and has no idea who he is.
Billie faces a felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty.
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