Pietro Bottino, 68, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after staff members of the area shelter witnessed the man punching his dog. Ironically, the abuse took place in the parking lot of New Jersey’s Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on October 12, 2013.

Several staff members saw the man beat his dog, a 1-year-old Belgian Shepherd, Turillo, at about 12:30 p.m., according to Buddy Amato, chief of the law enforcement division for the county’s SPCA.

Bottino was bringing the dog in to the office, possibly for a rabies shot, when he “lost his temper with the dog” and began punching it inside his pickup truck, Amato said.

Two staff members intervened and took the dog away from Bottino, who immediately began apologizing.

“He kept saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,'” Amato said. “It’s kind of bizarre that you would pull up into the SPCA parking lot in front of everybody and give a dog a beating like that.”

Police were called to the scene and Bottino was arrested. He was later released. The hearing on the animal cruelty charges will take place next month.

Thankfully, the dog was not severely injured. He will be placed into foster care, according to Amato.