Columbia woman accused of abusing dog several times

A Columbia woman faces three charges for allegedly hurting her dog several times on camera.

Prosecutors charged Leishi Tang with two counts of misdemeanor animal abuse and one count of felony animal abuse. An animal abuse charge can be upgraded to a felony if it is the second or subsequent offense of abuse.

Columbia police claim that, on June 26, Tang whipped her dog RoRo with a rope, squeezed its snout and pressed her forearm against the dog’s neck. A video of the incident, which police obtained when someone emailed it to them, shows a woman yelling at a dog in Chinese. Police said Tang admitted to being the woman in the video.

The Columbia Daily Tribune also obtained the video in June.

A probable cause statement said Tang posted the video, along with two other videos, in a group chat. Those videos were sent to police by people in the chat. Both videos, police claim, show Tang clutching RoRo’s snout and neck while she yells at the dog.

Judge Joshua Devine ordered a $10,000 cash-only bond for Tang on Friday.