Domingo R. Rodriguez, 66, and Dexter, a bulldog mix, 4, found dead at Ft. DeSoto State Park. (Photos: PCSO)
A 66-year-old Pinellas County man is facing animal cruelty charges after authorities said he gave inconsistent statements following a gruesome discovery of a beheaded dog that he had previously adopted.
According to a statement from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, deputies assigned to the Patrol Operations Bureau were called to the area of East Beach at Fort Desoto Park for reports of a deceased dog wrapped in a plastic bag.
When deputies arrived at about 6:45 p.m., they located a male bulldog mix with its head decapitated, floating in the mangroves. Pinellas County Animal Services scanned the dog for a microchip, identifying the dog as a 4-year-old bulldog mix named Dexter. Deputies learned the suspect, 66-year-old Domingo R. Rodriguez, adopted Dexter from Pinellas County Animal Services just days earlier on May 10, 2024.
Deputies spoke with Rodriquez at his residence, where he admitted to adopting Dexter and told them that Dexter “must have run away overnight on May 10,” the statement said. Rodriquez allegedly admitted to traveling to Fort Desoto Park on May 11, 2024, and provided deputies with “several inconsistent statements.”
Deputies arrested Rodriguez and charged him with one count of Animal Cruelty and one count of Disposal of Bodies of Dead Animals and transported him to the Pinellas County Jail.
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