A San Tan Valley resident was arrested for hanging his dog by its hind legs in a horse stable on June 16.
Pinal County Sheriff's Deputies arrested and released 51-year-old Martin Benavidez pending County Attorney review of the case.
PCSO received a call from a neighbor reporting that Benavidez had his dog hung up and it appeared to be in pain. The neighbor could hear the dog whimpering from her house.
Benavidez told deputies that he was training the dog and denied hurting it.
"This is a horrific case of animal abuse and for the owner to think he was training the dog is absurd. The dog was being tortured, not trained," Sheriff Paul Babeu said.
Pinal County Animal Control took custody of the dog and have named him "Spur". Spur looks to be a 6-month-old Queensland Heeler.
