AUSTIN, Texas — A Buda man has been arrested and charged with animal cruelty after allegedly torturing and killing dogs in Austin hotel rooms.
According to an affidavit, 27-year-old Tyler Hastings Berry is facing third-degree felony charges after a dead pit bill mix was discovered in his hotel room at the Doubletree Suites at 303 W. 15th St. on June 28, 2021.
The affidavit said the dog was found by the cleaning crew a day after Berry checked out, along with numerous hypodermic needles and drug paraphernalia.
A veterinarian with the Austin Animal Center determined the dog may have been strangled or partially drowned around 24 to 48 hours before its death.
“During those 24-48 hours, the dog would have been slowly dying and experiencing an unimaginable amount of pain and suffering, until its eventual death,” the document said.
Police recognized Berry’s name from another incident on June 5, when a wet, dead puppy was allegedly found in his room after he checked out from a different hotel. No officer was dispatched to that incident and no charges were filed because the puppy’s body was thrown away by hotel staff, the affidavit said.
Berry does face charges, however, over a third incident on Aug. 2 in which two dead puppies were found at another hotel in northwest Austin where he stayed. An investigation showed those puppies died from a lack of medical care.
The affidavit said Berry was arrested on Aug. 8 when he returned to the Doubletree Suites for another stay. His girlfriend, who was with him at the time, reportedly told officers Berry would get dogs off Facebook, “but then they would disappear.”
“Berry told her that he gave them away or that they ran away, but that his stories about the dogs was always ‘fuzzy,’” police said.
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