Man Killed Puppy: Cooked and Ate Family Dog (VIDEO)
'I Feel Sick to My Stomach Right Now,' Says Neighbor
A man killed a puppy, sliced it up, cooked some of the body parts, then froze the rest for future meals Thursday, according to reports. Thomas Elliot Huggins of Tampa, Fla. was arrested Friday after a family member alerted police officers to his activities.
The man killed the puppy, a 6-month-old pit bull mutt breed named Bandit, by strangling it to death. After the animal was dead, 25-year-old Huggins decided to cut the pup up with a steak knife, leaving its innards and head in the garbage. Huggins' mother came home to find the puppy dead and quartered.
A neighbor, John Pisacane, gave the puppy to the family. His dog, Coco, had Bandit earlier this year.
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"I feel sick to my stomach right now," he told WFLA after hearing Bandit's fate. "It's almost like hurting a baby. If I knew that, I'd never have given it to him in the first place."
Tampa Police Department officers arrived at the residence Friday morning and found the puppy's ribs in the pot. Huggins admitted to eating some of the dog meat. Apparently he "learned how to clean an animal from his mom as they have done it in the past with squirrels and rabbits," according to the police report.
Although the man did not feel his actions were wrong, his sister hinted at his possible mental illness. She told police Huggins "has not been right" for years and "goes on and on about religion and the lord telling him to do things," according to the TPD report.
Huggins was arrested and charged with felony cruelty to animals Friday morning and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail. His bond was initially $2,000 but increased to $10,000, The New York Daily News reported.
Animal Control came to the house to take the remains of the slain puppy.
