LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — Lee County Sheriff's Office arrested Joshua Schlottman for allegedly punching his dog several times on camera.
Schlottman made his first appearance in court Monday morning and was charged with aggravated animal cruelty for allegedly punching his dog Thanos, which neighbors captured on Ring video.
A neighbor who didn’t want to share her name said she saw signs of abuse, but wasn’t sure until she saw the video.
“If I would raise my hand to throw a stick, or if I would raise my hand to (gestures) ‘Come here Thanos,’ he would cringe and hunker down,” she said “He started getting skinnier. He started looking like he wasn’t being bathed. He may not be our dog, but we love him. It broke my heart.”
Neighbors like Nancy Lallier said they often saw Thanos wandering around the neighborhood by himself. But she said little Thanos didn’t deserves this.
“It’s sickening. I feel bad for any animal. No animal should have to go through that. None,” she said.
James Font there’s never an excuse to abuse a dog.
“There’s better ways to take care and discipline your dog. There should’ve been no excuse for that kind of action to take place with an animal,” he said.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno released a statement on Facebook Sunday.
“I’ll keep throwing these abusers into jail until they get the message that I won’t stand for it!” he said.
Schlotmann’s next court date is scheduled for October 7th.
