STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) -- The former CEO of an arena catering business who resigned in September after video surfaced of him kicking a puppy in an elevator has been charged with animal cruelty in Canada.
Desmond Hague, the former chief executive of Stamford-based Centerplate Inc., was charged Friday with two cruelty counts as a result of the July 2014 incident in a Vancouver apartment complex.
Centerplate is a catering company that operates concessions for Qualcomm Stadium and the San Diego Convention Center.
Hague said at the time he was "ashamed and deeply embarrassed" by his actions. Information about Hague's lawyer couldn't be determined late Saturday.
If convicted, Hague faces a maximum fine of $75,000, up to two years in jail or up to a lifetime ban on owning animals.
A spokesman for the Provincial Court in Vancouver told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Hague is to appear in court Feb. 24.
Hague had agreed to walk the Doberman pinscher puppy, named Sade, for a friend, and the video appears to show him kicking the dog and jerking its leash so severely that it lifts off the floor.
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The ensuing backlash as the video circulated on the Internet prompted Centerplate, which provides services to arenas across North America, to direct Hague to donate $100,000 to an animal abuse nonprofit organization, the newspaper reported. He resigned days later.
British Columbia's SPCA said that after the incident, the dog was taken into the SPCA custody and returned to its owner on the condition it have no further contact with Hague.
