A Lee County man was arrested after witnesses shared videos that accused him of abusing his dog on "several occasions" with deputies.
According to a Lee County Sheriff's Office report, deputies were dispatched to a call about shots fired on the night of April 12. However, deputies found no evidence of this occurring following an investigation.
While deputies were on scene speaking with the caller, they shared videos of what they claimed to be animal abuse committed by a man.
LCSO detectives said that in one video, the man was holding a golden doodle named Benjamin with his hands around the dog's neck. Another video showed the man striking the dog repeatedly, possibly with a shoe, while it was on the ground.
According to the sheriff's office report, the man, later identified as 38-year-old Chad Perrow, stopped and was heard saying, "Go potty," before striking the dog three more times, causing the dog to yelp loudly.
The witness said when they first saw Perrow abuse his dog a few weeks ago, they installed a doorbell camera specifically because of his aggressive behavior.
The witness told detectives that they had many more videos of Perrow's aggression toward the dog and mentioned they never saw his dog be aggressive in any way.
Another witness said they became so concerned about Perrow's actions that they started recording audio of Perrow when he would walk his dog outside. The witness heard the dog being beaten to the point that it would yelp in pain, according to the report.
A third witness was shown the videos and identified the man as Perrow and explained they thought he would discipline when necessary by a smack on the butt; however, they were unaware of the abuse seen in the videos.
Detectives asked the witness if Benjamin ever had unexplainable injuries, and they explained on multiple occasions the dog had a limp when he would walk.
According to the report, the witness said Perrow told them that the dog's nails might've been too long or the pads of his feet might've been sore from walking too much outside.
The sheriff's office said the dog was taken and impounded by a Lee County Domestic Animal Control officer until a vet could assess the extent of Benjamin's injuries.
According to the report, the officer did not see any obvious signs of injuries on the scene.
Perrow was taken to a Lee County Sheriff's Office substation to be interviewed. After further investigation and interview, Perrow was arrested for one count of misdemeanor animal cruelty.
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