'It's just horrible': Owner of service dog whose tail was allegedly broken by groomer speaks out
LAKE MARY, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - The veteran who claims his service dog's tail was injured so badly by a groomer that it had to be amputated is speaking out about the horrific incident.
James Cordell Doughty Suthann, 37, was arrested on a felony animal cruelty charge, after investigators said he became angry when the 8-year-old German Shepard, named TT, would not sit still while being groomed.
RELATED: Groomer accused of breaking service dog's tail
The incident happened on Feb. 6 at a grooming salon in Brevard County, where Suthann was working as a contract employee.
The owner said he found the groomer on the internet and that the facility had good ratings.
"I took her to the groomer's for an appointment at 11 o' clock in the morning and thought she was going to be in good hands," said the owner. "When we went to pick her up, she was acting really funny."
When TT wouldn't sit down and seemed like she was in pain, the family took her to the emergency veterinary hospital who gave him them the horrifying news.
"It's just horrible."
The entire incident was captured on video but is too graphic to post on Facebook, according to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. The dog's owner said when he saw the video, he was devestated.
"Just keeping my feet on the ground so I don't end up in there with him because that's how angry I am."
TT's owner is a disabled veteran who has post-traumatic stress disorder. She had to have emergency surgery to amputate her tail and is in the process of recovering.
"She's everything to me. She's like one of your children," said the owner.
Suthann was taken into custody on Monday by an investigator with the Sheriff’s Office Animal Cruelty Unit, as part of a joint investigation with members of the Satellite Beach Police Department.
Sheriff Wayne Ivey said Suthann had no remorse for what he's accused of.
"The video clearly demonstrates how the dog's tail was broken. At one point, you see this individual sits the dog down so tightly around his neck that his face is pressed up against the area where he's being groomed at," said Sheriff Ivey. "He hits the dog in the head with a water nozzle at the end of it. He had the audacity to do that as if enough punishment hadn't been inflicted on this animal."
Suthann was booked into the Brevard County Jail on a $2,000 bond.