Man brutally kicks dog in Venice, leaving pet unable to stand due to traumatic brain injury

VENICE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A man is behind bars after video captured him brutally kicking a beloved 15-year-old Yorky terrier, leaving the dog unable to stand.

The pet, named Bart, remains at an animal hospital undergoing veterinary care due to a traumatic brain injury that has left it unable to stand.

The violent attack was caught on video. Although hard to watch, the man, who the owner suspects of being on drugs, kicks the dog as it walked along the sidewalk in Venice Beach, sending it flying into the air and into the street.

Good Samaritans stepped in to care for Bart, giving the animal CPR and chasing after the suspect.

The suspect hit one of the men trying to catch him over the head with a glass bottle before being apprehended. It is unclear how severe the victim's injuries were.

Bart's owner has had him since he was two months old, and said she couldn't believe what had happened.

"No one would ever expect that this person would have just done that," said Laura Rosenfeld, Bart's owner. "He did a sidekick to my dog as if it was a soccer ball, and my dog just flew onto the metal plate in the street adjacent to our sidewalk. At the edge of the claw of the tractor, and he was rigid."

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Rosenfeld with Bart's medical bills.

Doctors are not sure if Bart will be able to walk again, but Rosenfeld is just glad her beloved pet is alive and beginning to make a slow recovery.

As for the 39-year-old suspect, identified as Michael Langman, he is facing charges for the attack and is in custody.

Rosenfeld said Langman is not safe for the community.

"He's not safe for the community. If we have people like that regularly wandering around our community, then we as a community are not safe," she said.