Man arrested after newly adopted dog found decapitated

A man was arrested after his newly adopted bulldog mix was found decapitated and floating in a plastic bag off the coast of a west-central Florida park, authorities said.

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According to Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Domingo Rodriguez, 66, of St. Petersburg, was arrested on May 15 and charged with cruelty to animals and improper disposal of a dead animal.

An investigation began May 14, when a decapitated dog was discovered in a bag floating among mangroves at about 6:45 p.m. EDT on the east beach of Fort DeSoto, a park located on an island west of Tampa Bay and south of St. Petersburg, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Pinellas County Animal Services officers scanned the dog for a microchip, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Officers discovered that the animal was a bulldog mix named Dexter, that Rodriguez had adopted from the agency on May 10, according to the newspaper.

Deputies interviewed Rodriguez, who admitted to adopting the dog and told them he must have run away on the evening of May 10, the sheriff’s office said.

Officials said that Rodriguez had offered “several inconsistent statements” but admitted traveling to Fort DeSoto Park.

Surveillance cameras captured Rodriguez driving his pickup truck in the area of Fort DeSoto Park on Saturday where the dog was discovered with a cooler in the back of the vehicle, the Times reported.

Rodriguez’s wife told deputies that Dexter was alive when she went to bed Friday night, according to the newspaper. When she woke up on Saturday, both her husband and the dog were not at home.

Rodriguez was arrested and booked into the Pinellas County Jail, online booking records show. He posted bail of $5,150 later on May 15, the Times reported.

An investigation is ongoing, the sheriff’s office said.

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