SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. — A Florida man is accused of felony cruelty to animals for an attack on a service dog that resulted in the amputation of its tail.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a Facebook post that he personally walked James Cordell Doughy Suthann into jail following his arrest Monday. He was accompanied by Satellite Beach police Chief Jeff Pearson.
The incident occurred Feb. 6 at a grooming salon where Suthann worked. Ivey says Suthann was angry that an 8-year-old German Shepherd service dog wouldn't stand during the grooming appointment. Video captured him grabbing the dog's tail while swinging the animal off the ground and twisting the tail. Emergency surgery was required.
Ivey says the video is so graphic he won't post it.
"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," the sheriff wrote on Facebook.
The dog is owned by a disabled veteran.
