Former Seminole Animal Control Officer Faces Animal Cruelty Charge

Cody Fitzgerald, a now former Seminole Animal Control Officer, faces allegations of felony animal cruelty, according to court documents filed on Monday.

In the probable cause affidavit, an officer for the on-campus police department at Seminole State College said he responded to a call of two stray dogs inside a residential hall on May 7.

At the scene, he called dispatch to send an animal control officer. But, perceiving the dogs as friendly, left the dogs until the animal control officer could arrive.

"I did not observe any aggressive behavior with the young dogs," the police officer wrote in the affidavit. 

More than an hour later, the same officer received a radio call from campus maintenance worker, Kevin Davidson. According to Davidson, the animal control officer was escalating his attempts to rescue the dogs and beating and strangling at least one of them.

"He actually told me that I need to settle down and let the man do his job," Davidson said, referring to his radio conversation with campus police. But despite the advice, on-campus police returned to the scene.

Davidson recorded video of the alleged incident, which the officer obtained a copy as evidence. 

The probable cause affidavit alleges that the video shows Fitzgerald, "kneeling on the ground with the weight of his body over the small dog while using his hands to choke and strangle the dog on several occasions."

The Seminole Animal Shelter fired Fitzgerald sometime after the incident. Representatives for the shelter did not respond to further request for comment.

Fitzgerald did not respond to a request for comment.