Man accused of drowning family dog in Pembroke Pines pool
FORT LAUDERDALE - A Pembroke Pines man was arrested after he reportedly drowned the family dog in a pool.
On Sunday, 25-year-old Corey Dacres got into a fight with family members at the Advenir at San Tropez apartment complex, according to police.
At one point, Dacres left the apartment and reportedly took the family dog, a six-year-old pit bull terrier, named Unity with him. They walked to the closed community pool area where he threw the dog over the five-foot fence surrounding it and then jumped over himself, according to police.
"Dacres entered the pool with Unity, where he willfully and maliciously drowned the dog," according to police.
Dacres then went back to the apartment and told his mother, "I killed the dog," according to his arrest report. The police were called.
Officers found the dog's body at the bottom of the pool's shallow end. Dacres was questioned and then taken into custody.
He was charged with a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty and appeared in court on Monday and was given a $35,000 bond.
It was the latest in a rash of animal abuse cases that have surfaced recently.
On Friday, a dog was found with multiple stab wounds in Pompano Beach and early last week a dog was found starving and wandering in Miami-Dade.
Each of those dogs is being helped by the nonprofit I Heart Animal Rescue.
I heart is paying for the medical treatment for the two dogs at an animal hospital in South Dade.
I Heart spokeswoman Lauren Mink says their organization and others helping animals are seeing a surge in abandoned and mistreated animals.
She says the reasons are many including the economy. People adopted pets during the pandemic and now are in financial straits in some cases.
She says also there are unscrupulous breeders who are breeding dogs and then discarding them.
"We need to hold people accountable," she said and urged residents to lobby state lawmakers for stronger laws protecting animals.
"I get 10 to 20 calls a day about animals in need," says I Heart's Cindy Mucciucio.
She says they need people willing to foster animals while they look for forever homes.
If you would like to help, go to @iheartanimalrescue on Instagram or iheartanimalrescue.pet
