Dog attacked after neighbors’ dispute 

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The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station. Courtesy of the city of Santa Clarita.
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Allegations involving an ongoing neighbor-versus-neighbor disturbance on Halloween in Saugus led to a felony arrest after an Urbandale Street resident reported her dog was pepper-sprayed. 

David McNeil, 36, of Saugus, was arrested on suspicion of felony animal cruelty, according to Deputy Robert Jensen, spokesman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. 

Deputies responded to a report of a neighbor disturbance some time after noon on Thursday, Jensen said. 

A neighbor reported that she had been having problems with her neighbor for weeks, he said. 

During the most recent incident, according to the report from patrol deputies who investigated the incident, McNeil stood behind a tall fence and pepper-sprayed the dog. 

“‘Suspect pepper-sprayed the dog maliciously because the dog was barking,’” read the report of the incident, Jensen said, adding there was security footage of the incident provided to the investigating officers. 

Penal Code section 597(a) makes it a felony punishable by up to three years in prison for, “a person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, tortures, or wounds a living animal, or maliciously and intentionally kills an animal.” 

The dog was injured in the attack, but the breed and the animal’s condition were not immediately available. 

McNeil, who did not have an occupation listed in the Sheriff’s Department booking logs, was released on his own recognizance the morning after his arrest, according to LASD custody records available online. 

Sheriff’s officials are presenting a case to the L.A. County District Attorney’s office and McNeil is due in court Dec. 4 in San Fernando, according to SCV Sheriff’s Station officials. 

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