Man Claims Police Officer Shot His Dog, Ordered Him To Decapitate It

A Florida man has claimed that a police deputy shot his dog and then ordered him to cut its head off, it was reported.

The man, identified as Joe Nathan Goodwin, said that he first heard his dog has been shot when his girlfriend Natasha Dakon called him Friday at work, saying that police had turned up at their house and shot their dog after they supposedly claimed his pet had bitten a neighbor, the Daily Mail reported.

According to reports, as soon as Goodwin heard the news, he rushed to his home to find his Pit Bull cross dead. However, the cop who claimed to have shot the dog justified his actions by claiming that the animal attacked a deputy. The cops also asked Goodwin to decapitate his two-year-old dog named Big Boy, stating that the dog’s head had to be removed so they could send it for rabies testing.

Goodwin who recorded the complete incident on his cellphone told CBS-affiliated television station, WMAZ-TV that when he refused to cut off his dog’s head, James Hollis, Crawford County Sheriff's Office investigator threatened to throw him in jail.

On Tuesday, when Goodwin was asked as to what other options he was given for handling his dead dog, he said that he was told to take the dog to the vet or remove his head. Goodwin added that the officers after giving him the option of taking his dog to the vet, wouldn’t allow him to leave the property so he cut his dog’s head off.

After the video was shared online Crawford County Sheriff’s Office got hundreds of calls from across the country to get to the depth of the incident. In the video posted by Goodwin as a Facebook live, he can be heard saying, “I will cut the head off and get it to you,” after which he asked the two deputies to get off his property.

The video also has Hollis reprimanding Goodwin for his tone. "You're not fittin' to talk to me or my deputy like that," he can be heard saying.

Watch the video here.

Lewis Walker, Crawford County’s Sheriff has not backed his officer regarding the incident and has said that one of his investigators should not have ordered Goodwin to cut the head off his dead dog. Walker also adds that his officers had no business investigating whether the dog was rabid as the case belongs to the county's health department.

He confirmed Tuesday that investigations in the case are still ongoing. According to the news release, “The circumstances regarding the dog attack, the shooting, and the processing of the animal for state-mandated rabies testing is under investigation," WMAZ-TV reported.

Walker also said that Hollis still remains on duty but is possible to be placed on an administrative leave in case the investigation into the incident goes further.