Arnold woman charged with abusing puppy

An Arnold woman was arrested on Sunday after a police officer investigating a complaint at her home said he witnessed her throw a puppy across a room.

Brittney Kinsey, 20, of the 1400 block of Fourth Avenue, was charged with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals and torture and a charge of cruelty to animals.

Kinsey is being detained in the Westmoreland County jail after failing to post 10% of the $7,500 cash bond set at her arraignment before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr., according to court records.

She faces a preliminary hearing May 5.

An Arnold police officer wrote in the criminal complaint charging Kinsey that he responded to her home shortly after 10:35 p.m. Sunday after police received a 911 call reporting that she was in her room “punching the dog.”

Kinsey’s mother told the officer she witnessed her daughter punch the dog “on multiple occasions” and that she heard the dog upstairs “yelping” along with the sound of “something being thrown onto the ground repeatedly,” the complaint said.

An officer who went upstairs to check on the dog said Kinsey initially refused to allow him into her room, police said.

After agreeing to open the door, Kinsey “picked up a small puppy appearing to be approximately 8-10 weeks old … and then threw the dog across the room almost sending it head first into the wall,” according to her arrest papers.

Police said Kinsey became irate after being arrested and hurled profanities at her mother and police as she was being escorted from the house.

Police said, once inside a police cruiser, she began kicking the security cage and tried to kick out the windows.