Woman charged after alleged dog strangulation in Summerlin

A woman walking her dogs in Summerlin on Sunday had to fend off a transient who attempted to kill her pets, police said.

The woman told Las Vegas police on Sunday that she was walking her two dogs on the 9600 block of Trailwood Drive, near North Town Center Drive, about 1:30 p.m. when a homeless woman approached. The homeless person, identified by police in an arrest report as Kelsey Kalenian, 26, grabbed the woman’s tan poodle and started strangling it.

“Kalenian approached her and her dog, grabbing the dog by the leash and following it to the collar where she used the collar to strangle the dog, (Maggie,)” police wrote in the report.

A struggle ensued and the first dog was put back on the ground. Kalenian then grabbed the woman’s second dog, named Hailey, “around the neck with her hands and attempted to strangle the dog,” police said.

The two continued to struggle and the dog walker was pushed to the ground. Police said Kalenian dropped the second dog, then fled to a nearby restaurant, hiding in a restroom, where she was arrested by police.

“When asked about what happened with the victim’s dog, Kelsey stated ‘the dog was annoying,’ and did not answer further questions regarding the animal,” police said.

The police report did not specify whether either dog was seriously injured. Las Vegas Justice Court records show Kalenian is charged with two felony counts of willful malicious torture, maiming or killing an animal and a misdemeanor count of battery.

Court records show Kalenian has 14 prior criminal cases in Justice Court dating to 2018, including allegations of trespassing, defrauding a proprietor, petit larceny, battery and possession of drugs.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.