Anthony man pleads guilty to animal cruelty for shooting neighbor’s dog

Gustavo Filerio, 30, of Anthony, NM pleaded guilty to one county of extreme cruelty to animals for shooting his neighbor’s dog multiple times with a .22-caliber rifle, according to the Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office.

The dog, a two-year-old blue healer named Bebebeto, was tied up on June 1.
Filerio fired at least eighteen rounds into the yard where the dog was tied with the bullets hitting Bebebeto at least three times. The dog was hit in the face, ear and leg.

Bebebeto survived the attack and has recovered from its injuries.

The case was scheduled to go before a Las Cruces jury on Monday, but Filerio instead pleaded guilty to extreme cruelty to animals, a fourth-degree felony, and admitted that he used a firearm during the act.

“That this defendant chose to plead guilty to the felony charge he was facing is a testament to the strength of the investigation by the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department and the evidence against him,” Doña Ana County District Attorney Mark D’Antonio said. “My office takes cruelty to animals cases very seriously, and I’d like to make that very clear. Cruelty to animals will not be tolerated in Doña Ana County.”

Filerio faces a mandatory year in prison for using a firearm in addition to eighteen months in prison for the animal cruelty charge. At sentencing, prosecutors will ask that he serve the full 30 months in the New Mexico Department of Corrections.