Fake Veterinarian Who Butchered Dogs In Surgeries And Had Illegal Dogs Sent To Prison


Lazaro Ruiz, 26, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and other charges. On Monday, he was sentenced to a year in jail, but could have been sentenced to 20 years. Ruiz had posted on the internet videos of crude operations he performed on dogs. A problem is that he is not a veterinarian and has no license to perform medical procedures on animals.

Ruiz was arrested in November after authorities set up a sting operation to catch him. They worked based on complaints and information from anonymous informants and online advertisements of Ruiz training pit bull dogs and Doberman pinscher puppies to be fighting dogs. In Miami, it’s illegal to sell or have pit bulls, according to the Examiner. He was arrested after he illegally attempted to sell a pit bull puppy to an undercover detective.

Miami prosecutor Suzanne Von Paulus called Ruiz’s crimes “barbaric.” As an illegal breeder who masqueraded as a vet, he performed an illegal C-section on a pregnant pit bull and injected another with an “unknown substance” aimed at helping her give birth. He also cruelly cropped the ears of at least three puppies with garden shears. The puppies’ were left with deformed ears, and their inner-ear canals were exposed. Ruiz boasted of his “ghetto-style home remedy.”

Ruiz first was on the radar last year when county animal services investigators found three dogs on his property baking inside a plastic crate with no shade. The temperature was over 110 degrees that day. But it seems as if no dogs were taken from him at that time. The videos he posted on YouTube were disturbing to animal lovers. He showed young Doberman puppies fighting in a bathtub over raw meat. The judge on the case, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ellen Sue Venzer, indicated that after serving his sentence, he cannot have access to any animals while serving five years of probation. Venzer stated the following, according to the Miami Herald.

“Frankly sir, these are some pretty gruesome pictures. I’m not at all sorry that you will be not be having any future pets….Not even a snake.”

Ruiz was also accused of battering a police officer during his arrest and even flipped off a photographer taking pictures of him.

Do you think one year was a sufficient jail term? Should Ruiz be able to have contact with animals even after his five-year probation is up? Please leave your comments below.

In another case, a real Texas veterinarian engaged in what many animal advocates considered to be extreme abuse. Kristen Lindsey posted a picture on Facebook of her holding a cat with an arrow through its head. The photo went viral and she lost her job as animal advocates around the globe showed their wrath through social media posts. But this vet will not face criminal charges even after bragging about killing a cat with a bow and arrow. An Austin County Grand Jury declined to indict Lindsey, according to an article in the Inquisitr.

[Booking Photo Courtesy Miami-Dade Police Department]

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