Dog Found Choking On Collar; Owner Arrested

EL PASO COUNTY, Texas — A woman was arrested for animal cruelty in West El Paso after sheriff’s deputies found a dog choking on a too-small spiked collar, El Paso County Sheriff’s officials said.

Animal Rescue League employees called El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies Tuesday after encountering a five-month-old male dog with a four-inch laceration in its neck. Sheriff’s officials said the dog’s spiked collar was about three inches too small for the dog and wasembedded into an open wound in the dog’s flesh.

Veterinarians said the dog had been choking on the collar for about a month.

Deputies arrested the dog’s owner, 48-year-old Elva Ortega, at an apartment complex in the 6900 block of Alto Rey. Deputies found the dog had poor living conditions as there was no dog food in dog’s bowl and a dog food bag had little food remaining.

Ortega was charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals: torture. She was booked and remains at the El Paso County Detention Facility.