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A Florida man was jailed after he threw a Chihuahua off of a balcony, causing the animal to break several bones, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
Dalton Chad Sousa, 30, of Fort Myers was arrested on Monday after police learned from a local animal hospital that a 3-year-old Chihuahua named Raven had been thrown off a balcony "like a football."
The individual who dropped the dog off reportedly told vets at the clinic that one of his friends threw the dog, according to deputies.
The dog suffered several fractures, including a broken leg and mandible, according to law enforcement.
Detectives tracked down the dog's owner, and learned that it was Sousa who threw the dog from the balcony.
He was arrested on a charge of aggravated animal cruelty the next day, according to deputies.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno issued a statement saying that it is "always diappointing to learn of an innocent animal abused by an owner they trust."
"Violent and abusive behavior towards an animal will NOT be tolerated in Lee County," the sheriff said. "This suspect will now pay the price for this disgusting crime."
Raven is currently in the care of the Blue Pearl Animal Hospital and is expected to fully recover from her injuries.
This isn't the first time a cruel individual tossed a dog off a balcony in Florida; in 2022, Shelly Nicole Vaughn, 46, tossed her then-boyfriend's pet pug Bucky to his death from a 7th floor balcony during a heated argument.
“I was just screaming, I was horrified,” the dog's owner, Eric Adeson, 56, told the New York Post at the time. “I lost Bucky and I lost someone I cared about. There’s just so much tragedy in this story.”
Vaughn was ultimately sentenced to just under a year in prison after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals and criminal mischief, according to the Tampa Bay Times. She was also given four years probation and is barred from owning any animals.
