Ponca City Man Charged With Animal Cruelty After Being Seen Kicking Dog

A Ponca City man was charged with animal cruelty after being caught on video kicking a dog repeatedly.

Mickey Delano, 25, was charged Friday with one count of animal cruelty.

The incident happened on June 5, 2021, when someone nearby a home in the 800 block of North Peachtree saw a man punch a dog several times.

The bystander began recording cellphone video.

“(He) wanted to see if the subject (Delano) was going to attack the dog again and began recording,” said Kevin L. Jeffries of the Ponca City Police Department. “The guy did walk up and strike the dog.”

Delano is seen on video kicking what appears to be a pit bull at least three to four times. Court records said the dog appears not to be aggressive and was playing with another dog.

“That evidence is very crucial to what we do,” said Jeffries. “If it’s on video, it is hard to dispute what happened. This is why he (Delano) was arrested, because we had video evidence of the crime occurring.”

Officers checked on the dog as did animal control officers the next day. The dog said to be OK.

“A lot of cases involving animals, we will air on the side caution by doing what we call a warrant request,” said Jeffries. “This was obviously bad enough to the officer that the subject was arrested when he saw the video.”

Police urge anyone with concerns of an animal’s wellbeing to call police immediately.

“Some crimes against humans, if it's bad enough, is a felony,” said Jeffries. “Just the act of striking a dog is a felony.”

Delano does have a criminal history, but nothing related to harming animals.