ORLANDO, Fla. – New documents show a man accused of punching his 4-month-old puppy to death may have lied to his veterinarian about what happened to the animal.
Luke Stribling, 20, was arrested Sept. 30 on two charges of felony animal cruelty.
News 6 obtained reports filed by his veterinarian showing Stribling blamed his brother for the death of his Shiba Inu, Julian.
"There was some apparent altercation between Luke's brother and the puppy," the veterinarian wrote. "Luke heard the puppy yelping/crying. Julian was coughing up blood, and he rushed the puppy directly here."
Investigators say Stribling later changed his story, explaining to them that he punched the puppy for urinating inside his apartment.
X-rays taken of Julian during his first visit to a veterinarian on June 12 show one of his legs was broken.
That veterinarian wrote in her report, "(Julian) had got a leg caught between two wood slats on a wooden bridge."
She wrote she splinted the dog's leg and sent him home.
Two weeks later, Stribling went to a different vet with Julian's lifeless body.
That's where investigators say he confessed to accidentally killing his dog.
A necropsy performed on Julian showed the dog had bleeding on his brain, in his eye and in his windpipe. The dog's sternum and skull were also fractured, according to the report.
It took Orange County investigators three months to arrest Stribling on felony animal cruelty charges. He posted bond and left jail the same day.
Stribling submitted a written plea of not guilty on Tuesday. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison on each of the two charges.