LEE COUNTY, Fla. – Employees of a Family Dollar in Southwest Florida were alarmed when they found something moving inside a trash bag in a dumpster outside the store. When they opened the black trash bag, they found a 16-year-old dog named Xyla with a rope tied around her neck.
The employees recognized the “intentional abuse” and took the Shih Tzu to Blue Pearl Pet Hospital to be evaluated, Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a press conference on Monday. The sheriff’s office began investigating immediately, which ultimately led to the arrest of Anthony Bellman, a 55-year-old man from Lehigh Acres.
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Photo: Lee County Sheriff’s Office
Detectives obtained “bone-chilling” surveillance video of the incident behind the Family Dollar store, which allegedly shows Bellman grabbing a black trash bag from the trunk of his blue SUV and flinging it into a dumpster.
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