Man accused of killing dog who stole his ball on Puerto Rico golf course

A businessman was arrested over the weekend after police said he shot and killed a dog who had stolen his ball on a golf course in Puerto Rico.

Salil Zaveri, 60, was playing golf Saturday at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Resort when the animal took his ball near the 17th hole, according to police and local media. The man was so upset that he pulled out a 9-mm. pistol and shot the dog at least twice, authorities said.

The animal died in front of several horrified golf players, the newspaper El Vocero de Puerto Rico reported Sunday.

Cops were called to the scene and arrested the “unscrupulous” suspect after an investigation, the island’s police bureau said in a Facebook post featuring a photo of Zaveri being handcuffed.

The accused dog killer is a sales and insurance consultant who runs the San Juan-based firm Zaveri Consulting, LLC.

In a statement to the Daily News, Zaveri said he shot the dog in self-defense after the animal raced toward him and tried to get into his golf cart. He also said that the golf ball was not his, but his friend’s, and that he couldn’t outrun the dog because it was too close to him.

“I took the first shot when the dog was less than 10 feet away and the dog rolled over but may have died slowly so I got out of the cart and took two more shots out of mercy,” Zaveri said.

The suspect is expected to appear in court on May 19.

The shooting took place in the coastal town of Río Grande, about 20 miles east of San Juan.