Florida man changed with killing Navy Veteran's dog

A man in Florida allegedly killed a veteran's dog for barking too much

NBC News
By Nicole Acevedo
Feb. 1, 2020

“When I got the call, my son was screaming in the phone, 'He’s hanging my dog,'” Richard Hunt told WFLA.

A man is facing charges for allegedly killing a dog for barking too much and then punching a child who refused to help him cover up the crime, authorities said.

Robert Leroy Edwards, 38, was arrested Wednesday on charges of animal abuse and child abuse by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

The black labrador retriever, named Midnight, belonged to Richard Hunt, a disabled Navy veteran, according to NBC affiliate WFLA in Tampa. Hunt's adult son, Ian, was caring for Midnight at his home at the time of the incident.

Ian Hunt told NBC News that Edwards was a boarder at his home.
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Disabled veteran's German Shepherd service dog brutalized by groomer

Florida groomer picks up tail of disabled veteran's service dog, spins it until it breaks: sheriff

The 8-year-old German Shepherd was so hurt that its tail had to be amputated.
WTSP News
Author: Andrew Krietz
February 25, 2019

"The video is so graphic that I will not post it on Facebook, but trust me when I tell you that it is one of the most difficult things I have ever had to watch in my 39 years of Law Enforcement because of the horrific and cruel way the pet was treated," Ivey wrote.

TT underwent emergency surgery to amputate its tail and is recovering. Its owner is devastated, the sheriff said.

SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. — A Florida sheriff says he has no problem taking your butt to jail if you hurt an animal in his county.

It's the least of what Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey wrote on Facebook while describing a horrific act of animal cruelty -- so much so that he said it's probably one of the worst cases in his 39 years of law enforcement.

A disabled veteran had his service dog, a German Shepherd named "TT," set for a grooming appointment. James Cordell Doughty Suthann was tasked to take care of the 8-year-old dog. Video tells the rest of the story, Ivey said: The contract employee got upset when the dog would not stand still. The sheriff wrote Suthann grabbed TT's head down "so tight that the dog could no longer move and was obviously in pain."

At one point, Ivey said he saw Suthann lift the dog up by its tail -- and off the ground, causing her to spin a complete 360 degrees. The tail became broken to the extent it could not be reattached.

Suthann wasn't done there, the sheriff said, as he took the nozzle used to bathe the dog and struck it in the back of the head.
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Marine Reservist pleaded guilty to killing puppy!

St. Louis woman admits drowning, abusing puppy in California
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Robert Patrick
Aug 28, 2018

ST. LOUIS • A woman from St. Louis pleaded guilty to a felony animal cruelty charge in federal court Tuesday and admitted abusing and drowning a puppy on a U.S. Marine Corps base in California.

Brittney Shanae Dyson admitted dunking Bella in a bucket of water, bleach and Pine-Sol cleaner on June 16, 2016, in a house on Camp Pendleton in Oceanside.

The Dachshund-terrier mix was about 6 months old and weighed less than 20 pounds, Dyson’s plea says, and struggled frantically, clawing at the sides of the bucket.

A necropsy the next day found evidence that Bella’s leg had been fractured by blunt force within three weeks of her death, and Dyson admitted “on occasion” striking the dog “with great force.”
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Firefighter With PTSD Convicted After Killing Puppy

Firefighter sentenced to jail for killing puppy
Napa Valley Regigister
MARIA SESTITO
June 3, 2016

Minagawa said that PTSD is more common among first responders than in the general public. “I see PTSD with police officers, sheriff’s deputies, paramedics, firefighters and federal agents,” he said.

Nicholas Luiz, the Santa Clara firefighter who pleaded no contest to two charges of animal cruelty after killing his 6-month-old German Shepherd puppy, was sentenced to 210 days in jail in Napa County Superior Court on Friday.

The puppy named Woody was killed by Luiz at his former home on Massa Drive in Napa on Dec. 29 after months of being abused. The incident was reported by a neighbor who claimed to have seen Luiz “beat his dog to death,” according to the prosecution’s sentencing brief.

The neighbor reported that Luiz had picked Woody up, thrashing his body on the ground seven or eight times, prosecution said. When police arrived that night, no one answered. They obtained a search warrant and found the animal the next morning wrapped in a plastic garbage bag in the laundry room. Luiz admitted that “things got out of control” and that he had been drinking, prosecution said.

Woody’s supporters from Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch, who have been following the case since the beginning, took up nearly two rows of seats of the courtroom waiting to hear Judge Francisca P. Tisher’s sentencing decision.
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Abused Dogs Find New Home Behind Bars With Veterans

New jail program matches up abused dogs with veterans behind bars
AZ Family
Tami Hoey
April 6, 2016

A new program at the Maricopa County jail matches up abused dogs from with military veterans who are serving time.

The dogs are from Sheriff Joe Arpaio's MASH (Maricopa Animal Safe Haven) Unit.

All the dogs in the MASH Unit are formerly abused and neglected and were seized from their prior owners under criminal circumstances by detectives in the Animal Crimes Unit.

Now, every Wednesday, dogs from that unit will be taken to the veterans pod at Towers Jail in the Durango Complex to spend time with inmates who are veterans.

The dogs range in breed from terriers to labs to pit bulls.

Arpaio says both dogs and inmates can benefit from the program.

Studies have been found that the presence of animals can help inmates deal with stress.
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Veteran Saves Dog, Gets Arrested, Woman Endangers Dog, Gets Ticket?

Army veteran arrested after smashing window, saving dog from hot car
Associated Press
Published May 12, 2015

ATHENS, Ga. – A Georgia man who saved a dog from a hot Mustang has been arrested for smashing a window to free the animal.

Multiple news outlets report that Michael Hammons of Athens was charged with criminal trespassing after freeing a small Pomeranian mix in distress from a hot car outside a store.

Witnesses say that while a group of shoppers waited for police to arrive to free the dog, the Army veteran smashed the window.
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Fort Bragg Soldier Charged For Killing Dogs

Fort Bragg soldier charged in connection with dead dogs 
WRAL News
May 9, 2015

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Fort Bragg soldier has been charged in connection with the abuse of dogs that were found with their throats slit.

Al Richard Charlie, 32, is accused of killing a female Labrador mixed breed and her puppy on May 4 at the home of their owner, then driving to a wooded lot on Camden Road the next day and dumping them, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said. 

“The mamma dog, her throat was cut so viciously that it completely transected,” said Dr. John Lauby, Cumberland County animal control director.

The dogs belonged to an acquaintance of the suspect, authorities said. The acquaintance is not a suspect in the case, investigators said.

Charlie, who recently returned from deployment overseas, is charged with two counts each of felony larceny of a canine, felony possession of stolen property, felony animal cruelty and improper disposal of a domestic animal. read more here

Fort Bragg Soldier Stands Trial For Drowning 8-month-old Puppy

Soldier accused of drowning puppy to hire lawyer, return to court Feb. 12
Fayetteville Observer
By Paul Woolverton
Staff writer
Jan 24, 2015.

Staff photo by Babette Augustin

As two animal protection advocates watched, a Fort Bragg soldier accused of felony cruelty to animals for the drowning of an 8-month-old puppy in Fayetteville made his first court appearance Friday.

A first appearance is where a defendant is formally told the crime he is accused of and the maximum potential punishment. He also is asked whether he plans to hire a lawyer, seek a court-appointed lawyer or represent himself as the case proceeds.

The soldier, Spc. John Garrett Burrow, 22, was arrested this week by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office along with his wife, Kelsey Caroline Burrow, 20. Kelsey Burrow is charged with misdemeanor accessory after the fact.

The drowning of the dog, named Riley, has drawn outrage from many.

John Burrow is accused of tying the puppy's feet to its nose with a military parachute cord and throwing it into McFadyen Lake, about a quarter-mile from the couple's west Fayetteville home. The dog's body was found Jan. 2.
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