St. Petersburg man arrested after decapitated dog found at Fort De Soto Park

A St. Petersburg man was arrested Wednesday after his newly adopted bulldog mix was found decapitated and floating in a plastic bag at Fort De Soto Park, deputies said.

Deputies arrested Domingo Rodriguez, 66, on charges of cruelty to animals and improper disposal of a dead animal, records show.

The investigation began Tuesday afternoon when a decapitated dog was found in a bag floating among mangroves on the east beach of Fort DeSoto, according to arrest affidavits and a news release from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Pinellas County Animal Services officers scanned the dog, and a chip in the animal showed it was a bulldog mix named Dexter that Rodriguez had adopted on Friday.

Surveillance cameras captured Rodriguez driving his pickup truck in that area of Fort DeSoto Park on Saturday with a cooler in the back, records state.

Deputies interviewed Rodriguez at his house, where he said Dexter must have run away from home overnight on Friday, according to the sheriff’s office. Rodriguez said he was at Fort DeSoto Park for about 25 minutes on Saturday morning but his statement included many “inconsistencies and contradictions,” affidavits state.

Rodriguez’s wife told deputies that Dexter was alive and well when she went to bed Friday night. When she woke up the next morning, her husband and the dog were not home.

Deputies found bags at the home like the one in which Dexter was found.

Rodriguez was released from the Pinellas CountyJail on Wednesday after posting $5,150 bail, records show.

A man who answered at the phone number listed for Rodriguez in the arrest affidavit said he didn’t speak English. When the Tampa Bay Times tried again soon after, no one answered the phone or immediately responded to a text message sent in Spanish.

Times staff writer Lesley Cosme Torres contributed to this report.