Pup rescued from horrible living conditions, owner arrested on animal cruelty charges

Yesterday, Florida’s Collier County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) reported on an animal rescue operation that went down in Immokalee back on June 12.  After receiving a complaint regarding a pup being subjected to horrid living conditions, CCSO detectives with the Animal Cruelty Investigations Alliance in cooperation with a Collier County Domestic Animal Services (DAS) officer visited a residence in Immokalee where they discovered and rescued “Robo,” a young bull terrier.

It was a typical hard rainy day in Florida, some would say “monsoonish,” when officials found Robo sitting inside a flooded doghouse.  He was tied to a pole and unable to move outside his confined space in his owner’s backyard.  Further investigation by CCSO deputies determined there was probable cause for the arrest of Robo’s owner.

Yesterday morning, detectives arrested Robo’s owner, 43-year-old Romero Gabriel-Lopez of Immokalee and charged him with animal cruelty for failing to provide Robo with adequate shelter and unlawfully tethering him, preventing adequate movement and exercise.

“We have zero-tolerance for animal cruelty in Collier County,” Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said. “Thanks to the diligent efforts by our Animal Cruelty Investigations Alliance, Robo is safe and his owner is in our custody and will be held accountable for his neglectful actions.”

When detectives arrived at Gabriel-Lopez’s residence on Christian Terrace, it was pouring down rain and Robo’s doghouse was flooded with one to two feet of water. Because Robo was tethered inside that doghouse, there was barely any space for him to move and get to an area that wasn’t flooded. At the time, Collier County had received an excessive amount of rain over the past few days and was under tornado and flood watches.

Gabriel-Lopez wasn’t home when detectives and the DAS officer arrived; but detectives made contact with him by phone, and he agreed to surrender Robo.  Detectives said DAS was able to take custody of Robo at that time and that the young bull terrier was two-three years old and weighs about 30 pounds.

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(Source: Collier County Sheriff’s Office)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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