Relatives of a 13-year-old boy accused of torturing the family's dogs -- and posting videos of it that went viral -- say the seventh-grader is a "normal kid" led astray by a man they had taken in when he had no where else to go.



"This is bizarre for us, we were simply stunned," said the boy's grandmother, who is a minister. "We will hold him (the boy) accountable because this is not who we are as a family."



Police say the boy and the family friend, 22-year-old Joshua Moore, spun the small terriers and chihuahuas on their leashes, including recently born puppies. They are also accused of pouring rubbing alcohol on a dog's testicles and, in one case, biting into the neck of another dog until it cried.



In one of the videos, the two stop swinging one dog and focus the camera on the dog's eyes, which "pulsate and rapidly dart back and forth," according to a police report. One of the two bragged that "you couldn't tell it was a dog" because he was moving as fast as "a propeller."



In another video, the boy pours rubbing alcohol on a dog's testicles, then applies duct tape and "violently rips the tape off," the report states. "This occurs twice in the video."



Moore told arresting officers that "everything shown in the videos was for entertainment purposes and that he did not think he did anything wrong," according to the police report.



Moore appeared in bond court today in a brown jacket and blue jeans, the front of his neck covered in colorful tattoos. He appeared to shake his head at times as prosecutors detailed the allegations. His court-appointed defense attorney said Moore is a high school graduate attending college part time and has no criminal background.



The 13-year-old, charged as a juvenile, was ordered to home confinement as part of an electronic monitoring program. He was also ordered to have no contact with any animal and is allowed to leave home for only school.



The two were arrested in the 200 block of North Lockwood Avenue in the South Austin neighborhood Thursday after the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals brought the videos to the attention of authorities. After searching the home, police seized five dogs and five puppies and placed them with the city's Animal Care and Control agency.



Police said the videos were made the last week of January and first week of February. They apparently were taken off YouTube after PETA complained, police said.



"We're just super relieved these dogs are safe," said Daphna Nachminovitch, vice president of cruelty investigations at PETA. "On some occasions you never find the person responsible and with this case. . .It was quite clear they'd be subjected to malicious torture by these people. They thought it was funny to torture these tiny little dogs."



On the videos, some of the puppies could be seen cowering while the other dogs were swung on a leash, police said.



The pair also tormented a female dog that recently gave birth by hiding her five puppies around the house and watching the mother frantically search for them, police said. The puppies and the mother were also tossed in the air and landed on their stomachs, police said.



The videos also show the man and the boy trying to force a dog to eat fecal matter. If the dog didn't eat it, police said, they commented that the dogs "didn't like it" and grabbed others to try again.



The two also poured lemon juice down a dog's throat until it started gagging, according to the police report.



The boy was released from custody Friday afternoon, and returned to his Austin home accompanied by his mother and grandmother and another relative who ushered him inside the family's apartment.



The family said they were in shock. "He's a good kid, he doesn't have any background," said the boy's mother. The Tribune is not identifying the family because the boy has been charged as a juvenile.



His grandmother added: "This kid has no priors, he's a normal kid, he plays Nintendo. . .No drugs, no alcohol, nothing. He's not truant, he's late to school sometimes, that's about it."



They put the blame on Moore, who they described as a friend of a friend who needed a place to live in November while he signed up for college courses and got a job, the women said.



But they began having problems a short time after he moved in. One cold evening, Moore let one of the chihuahuas out of the home, alone and unattended. They said they scolded him and had to spend the evening bringing the dog's body temperature back to normal.



"He didn't seem to understand the import of what he did," said the boy's grandmother.



But by last month, the family had had enough of his foul language and other problems. They called police and two officers ordered him to leave. The family even reached out to the man's girlfriend in Indiana who didn't want him to be with her children, the women said.



"He betrayed us, he violated our family values and she asked him to leave," the grandmother said.



When informed that the man told police he was simply entertaining himself, the mother and grandmother said they were appalled. "He called that fun? I understand he said that dumb stuff to my son, but to say that to the police too, he's got no sense," said the mother.



The women said the boy had never exhibited any violence towards the dogs. Even neighbors said he was protective of the dogs, and played with them outside every day. "Those dogs are not just dogs, they're family," the mother said. "They (police) took everything that made my home, home."