The chief executive of a multibillion-dollar company has been caught on a lift surveillance video repeatedly kicking a Doberman puppy and yanking its leash as it cowered at his feet.
Desmond Hague, the CEO of Centerplate, a Connecticut-based food and beverage corporation, was captured on surveillance video on July 27 abusing the animal in a lift of the luxury Private Residences at Hotel Georgia in Vancouver, Canada.
The video shows Mr Hague yanking the dog's leash and kicking the dog in the ribcage as he enters the lift.
Once inside the lift, Mr Hague kicks the dog repeatedly as it sits subdued on the floor. When the dog does not respond to the abuse, Mr Hague violently yanks the leash, pulling the puppy across the floor and lifting it into the air by its collar.
"This incident is completely and utterly out of character and I am ashamed and deeply embarrassed," Mr Hague said in a statement released on Saturday.
"A minor frustration with a friend's pet caused me to lose control of my emotional response. Unfortunately, I acted inappropriately, and I am deeply sorry for that and am very grateful that no harm was caused to the animal."
As CEO, Mr Hague is at the helm of a $US6 billion ($6.4 billion) business with more than 350 clients and 30,000 employees, according to American business magazine Fortune.
The puppy, a one-year-old Doberman pinscher named Sade, belongs to a friend of Mr Hague.
Mr Hague was reportedly pet-sitting at the time of the attack.
The video, which was initially emailed to the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) by a "concerned citizen", went viral after it was aired by Canadian television network Global News.
"I have reached out to the SPCA and have personally apologised to the dog's owner," Mr Hague said in the statement.
The SPCA raided the 39th-floor apartment last week and found Sade trembling in a urine-soaked cage with its food and water bowls out of reach, The Vancouver Sun reported.
Sade was seized by the SPCA on Wednesday night and is now "in good hands" with "no real lasting physical damage", SPCA's chief prevention and enforcement officer Marcie Moriarty told The Vancouver Sun.
No charges have been laid against Mr Hague.
Centerplate's board of directors have reportedly ordered him to donate $US100,000 to establish a Sade Foundation to help abused dogs in Vancouver and to perform 1000 hours of community service in support of groups that help care for animals.
