J.T.T., a 56-year-old resident of Bridle Path Lane in the Hunter’s Ridge subdivision at the south end of Flagler County, was arrested on Monday and charged with a felony count of animal cruelty causing death following his admission to shooting a neighbor’s dog that had bounded onto his property.
The incident took place on Nov. 5. J.T.T. told Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies he shot the dog, called Dina, with a .22 rifle he’d retrieved from his shed. He said he was at the back of his property at the time with his children. The dog crossed onto the property and allegedly became aggressive with the children. (One of the children is a teen, the other is younger.) The arrest report makes no reference to Dina attacking the children or J.T.T., who walked toward the front of the property, where the dog had gone, and fired.
The gunshot is audible in surveillance footage obtained by sheriff’s deputies, “and the dog is observed running south in front of the fence line between the property line and the road immediately after this single gunshot,” the arrest report states. “The dog is then observed attempting to get under the gate at the driveway of 332 Bridle Path Ln. where she got stuck and laid until the residents notified [its owner] and removed the dog. Additionally, in the video, the dog is heard yelping and whimpering immediately after the single gun shot is heard.”
Additional footage revealed that Dina was on the Bridle Path Lane property near the front gate entrance. “It should be noted there is no one around Dina and there were no sounds or signs of someone in distress during this surveillance footage,” the report states. “Approximately 20 seconds into the surveillance footage, a gun shot is heard coming from the direction of 344 Bridle Path Lane near the back of the property. Immediately after the gun shot is heard, a dog is heard yelping and crying.” Nine seconds later, Dina is seen heading from the driveway of J.T.T.’s property in an attempt to head toward a different nearby property.
The dog got stuck under the fence, and died there. Dina’s owner at first was unsure about the cause of death. Picking up the dog, he noticed blood on his hands, and when searching for an injury, found one entry point from a bullet, on Dina’s right shoulder.
The surveillance then shows a juvenile boy running from the rear of J.T.T.’s property towards the front entrance where Dina was prior to being shot. J.T.T.’s daughter is observed walking form the rear of the property to the front as well, as she appears to be speaking on a cell phone.
J.T.T.’s wife told deputies she had not seen or heard the incident. She told them that a dog continuously runs onto her property, goes through recycling bins, snatches shoes from the back porch and is occasionally aggressive with barking, in one case preventing her daughter from getting out of her car. J.T.T. and his family have a dog of their own, Buddy, which happened to have been captured in different footage moments before the shooting, running after a golf cart with juveniles aboard. (J.T.T. two weeks ago was cited for letting a dog run loose in the neighborhood.)
An Army veteran, J.T.T. has been battling cancer and is, according to his wife–in a voice mail she left for a neighbor, that deputies retrieved–terminal. He could not speak, and communicated with deputies with a whiteboard. He was briefly booked at the county jail Monday night and posted $2,500 bond. The State Attorney’s Office filed the third degree felony animal cruelty charge on Feb. 27. It is punishable by up to five years in prison, though in cases involving individuals with no prior record, if there is a conviction, it is more likely to result in probation not jail or prison, especially in cases of undisputed admissions and plea deals.
TREEMAN says
Dogs! Dogs! CONTROL your Dogs! Sadly this UNCONTROLLED Dog was Shot!
Disgusted says
J.T.T is apparently “terminal” but not too terminal to get up out of his deathbed to shoot an innocent dog. I guess we’re supposed to go easy on him because he’s an “Army veteran” and because he’s supposedly terminal.
I’m tired of giving vicious and mean people a pass because they’re a “veteran” or otherwise supposedly victims in one way or other.
Anyone who shoots a dog and/or kills a dog and/or is otherwise cruel to a dog ought to go to jail for a long time. If the man is cruel to a dog even when supposedly terminal on his deathbed, I can only imagine what goes on in his house.
Miami North says
Seems the only way to solve issues these days is with GUNS
Thank your local NRA fanboy
Duncan says
Kills his neighbor’s dog for wandering on his property when he has his own dog chasing people in golf carts, sounds like a hypocrite. Terminal cancer or not, he’ll have a longer life than that defenseless dog.
The biggest says
2,500$ bond a 250$ lil bond when it was a gun he could have easily had that bullet ricochet and hit a innocent bystander yet my father harms a cat and gets put in jail even when he was having a psychiatric breakdown and they want to arrest him at the hospital and place him on $100,000 bond, but don’t worry he was out in less than an hour yeah that’s right 10k compared to 250$ fcso need to stop just making numbers up!!!! He lost his wife he’s not a menace like this man is with gun or piearre with a keyboard mr keyboard warrior!!! Make it make sense my father was on medication and didn’t have a gun this county is a joke.. a real joke… violence will only go up and increase until until they our money for better things not bridges and medians pathetic…. I was raised if you were brought into this world you can be taken right who brought you in…. Wee wee JOKES LETS GO TAPE YOUTUBE VIDEOS ON THE BORDER WHAT A JOKE
Mothersworry says
Curious, what relevance does the shooter being a veteran have to do with this story? Veteran of what? Seems everybody who served in the military is a veteran now. Use to be a “veteran” was involved in combat.
Cancer says
Control your elderly
Wow says
Disgusting and sad. How can someone be so heartless and cruel. Imagine how he treated his own dog.
Charles says
I hope the Judge does the right sentence for the helpless dog did not deserve being shot and killed.
Lock this guy up and fine him big.
Bobby says
I totally agree with you, just because you are a veteran doesn’t mean you are free to do whatever you want and get away with it. Some veterans never were even in combat area’s but could work in a mess hall their whole time in the service. There are good and bad and everyone, and this veteran should know better than to kill a neighbors dog.
Villein says
Veteran just means you were in the military more than six months, it doesn’t imply combat experience.
But I think you’re wrong- being a veteran does matter. But it’s no excuse for irresponsible gun use.
Maybe they should rename hunters ridge
“Daytona Central.”
Mothersworry says
Care to expand on why “being a veteran does matter” in this article?
Jane Leslie Hicksenhytzer says
He is a horrible human. That poor dog. Terminal? Well enough to be evil to another living being. I would be mortified if he was part of my family.
Celia Pugliese says
Criminals kill dogs in Flagler county and get a slap in the wrist. No justice for these innocent animals/family members as well.
Mikey says
He’s lucky he didn’t shoot my dog. Just sayin..
Fred says
Absolutely correct!
Stop playing the “ poor me’s for the courts and the press and the public. It’s not going to work this time!!
Laura says
So the property was gated , kids were clearly in their own yard, dog was historically agressive towards at least one of the children & destructive of personal property. The fedup home owner dealt with a 4 legged tresspasser himself this time instead of waiting for dog to cause more harm or animal police to show up again.
I feel bad for the kids who will be processing the situation (some kids are scared for life by stray agressive dogs) and for the repeatedly roaming dog to have such careless owner(s)
Laurel says
People do not want to train their dogs, do not want to keep them on leash, let them bark endlessly, or do not keep them from running loose. Unfortunately, when people do that, animals can get hurt or killed. Not the animal’s fault, but the owner’s fault. But, people will continue to not train their dogs, not keep them on leash, let them bark endlessly, or keep them from running loose…
Sensible says
Thank you. I can’t believe the nutters here who are acting like this was cruelty. Sorry, I have kids playing in my back yard and a historically “at large” and aggressive dog comes charging in, shoot and ask questions later. There have been WAAAAAY to many fatal maulings of children by trashy peoples’ loose hellhounds. The majority of this comment section is absurd. Too many lunatics who think dogs are “fur babies” with equal value to human life instead of what they actually are: animals, bred for function, not to be family.