On January 4, 2026, Dan Bujor was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after a viral video released on social media captured him driving a car and dragging two dogs behind the vehicle in Long Island.
According to the police report and video, Bujor allegedly tied a two-year-old German shepherd, Marzipan and a two-year-old pit bull mix, Nougat, by their leashes to the back of a red Passatl; the dogs struggled to keep up as the car drove through an intersection.
Witnesses were shocked, yelled repeatedly at the driver to pull over and called police.
Moments later Nougat became unhooked from the car. It was at that time the driver stopped, allegedly rounded up up his dogs and pushed them into the vehicle.
By the next day, Bujor, 68, had been identified, arrested and arraigned on two counts of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals, failing to provide sustenance and driving without a licensed.
According to court records, Bujor dragged the dogs behind the car because “he didn’t want them pooping inside the car.”
Both dogs were removed from Bujor’s home and transferred to the ASPCA in Manhattan. Nougat suffered from abrasions on her paw pads, skin inflammation between her toes and diarrhea. Marzipan suffered a ruptured eardrum. At this time the dogs are not available for adoption because of court proceedings decisions yet to be adjudicated.
View video (Extremely graphic – view discretion needed)
Bujor was released without bail and is scheduled to return to court in March. If found guilty of all charges, he could face up to one year in prison.
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