Florida man accused of trapping, spraying cat with high-pressure water hose in 45-degree weather, deputies say

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A Daytona Beach man was arrested after he allegedly trapped a cat in a cage and sprayed it with a water hose in his front yard on New Year's Eve, deputies said. 

Dean Bell, 61, is facing one count of animal torture after his neighbors watched the incident unfold before reporting it to law enforcement, arrest records show. 

Around 8 a.m., two people told deputies they saw their neighbor, Bell, standing over a metal trap containing a small black cat and what looked and sounded like a high-pressure water hose in his hand.

Bell's neighbor said he was intentionally spraying the car in the face and body with the pressurized hose in his hand. 

Credit: Volusia County Sheriffs Office

He reportedly was standing one to two feet away from the cat as he was spraying the feline with the hose, the neighbors told deputies. 

During the incident, it was 45 degrees outside. 

Bell allegedly stopped spraying the cat when he noticed that his neighbor was recording him. 

Video captured by one of the neighbors showed Bell picking up the cage containing the cat and dropping it on the ground in between bouts of spraying it with the hose. 

When one of the neighbors confronted Bell, he said something like, "it shouldn't have been in his yard." an affidavit shows.  

Bell was arrested and taken to the Volusia County Jail.