According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Tad Whitworth, 49, was taken into custody in Lake Wales Saturday afternoon. He’s facing two counts of felony animal cruelty.
Deputies responded to Whitworth’s home last week after neighbors called 9-1-1 reporting that he hit two dogs, Bella and Tupac, in the head with a sledgehammer.
The dogs belong to Whitworth’s girlfriend, who told them she asked him to euthanize the dogs for her because they were old and had health problems.
The dogs are now in the care of SPCA of Lakeland.
