MARION COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A 12-year-old Marion County boy is facing an animal cruelty charge after deputies say he said he tied a dog to a tree and beat it in the face multiple times with metal pipes.
Deputies said they were contacted by Animal Control after the boy’s mother told them he had tied up the dog, named Tiny, and beat it with a pipe.
A witness who was repairing a broken water pipe on Feb. 24 asked the boy where Tiny was. The boy said the dog was tied up in the backyard. The witness then asked the boy to show him where he was.
Deputies say the boy tried to run to Tiny’s location before the witness could but when the witness caught up with the boy he found Tiny “unconscious, with a rope around his neck and blood on his face.”
The boy told deputies he tied Tiny to a tree in the backyard with a rope and began to discipline him by hitting Tiny with his hands and a stick.
The boy claimed to have hit Tiny with two silver metal pipes a total of 10 times in the face and body. At one point telling deputies “I think I took it a little too far.”
The boy was arrested and transported to the Marion County Department of Juvenile Justice.
Tiny is being evaluated medically by Animal Services, but thankfully seems to be recovering well.
