MIAMI – The owner of a pet grooming service condemned the brutal kicking of a small dog by his former employee, which was captured on video, leading to strong reactions and threats against his company.

“What he did was brutal,” said Yosuany Rodriguez, the owner of Deluxe Mobile Grooming, the business featured on the shirt of a man kicking a small Maltese-Shih Tzu mix. The disturbing attack, captured on Ring video, sparked angry reactions on social media.

Rodriguez said he learned about the animal cruelty attack on Saturday morning – five days after it happened – when he saw two negative reviews on his website. Minutes later, he also received surveillance images that went viral in which he recognized his employee.

“When I sent him this, I asked him, ‘Is that what I think it is? Did you kick the dog?’ And he said yes.”

Rodriguez said the dog was being groomed by his co-worker at 9 a.m. that morning (Monday, August 12, 2024). When asked why the co-worker kicked the dog, Rodriguez said he did not know and was so disgusted by the act itself that he did not take any action.

CBS News Miami asked Yusnaby Rodriguez if this man still works for him.

“No, I fired him immediately,” Rodriguez said.

A week after the animal cruelty incident, Rodriguez – who owns several dogs himself – said he received numerous death threats.

“Someone sent me a picture of the house and said ‘dead’, I’m going to kill you all!”

He said he notified police and closed the company’s website and all of his social media accounts because he was faced with an avalanche of insults.

He told CBS News Miami his life has changed since the video of his former co-worker kicking the dog went viral.

“I want the community to know that I am truly sorry for what happened. I do not condone his actions. I want him to be held accountable in court and hopefully he gets the justice he deserves,” Rodriguez said.