Lehigh Acres man found guilty for repeatedly punching dog

Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published: Updated:
Joshua Ray Schlotmann, 28. Credit: Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

Joshua Schlotmann, 28, who in a video captured by a homeowner’s Ring doorbell camera showed him abusing a dog, was found guilty of cruelty to animals by a jury of his peers at the 20th Circuit Court of Florida on Wednesday.

“Not here. Not now. Not ever,” Lee County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a post on Facebook in September 2019. “I’ll keep throwing these abusers into jail until they get the message that I won’t stand for it.”

According to the LCSO Facebook post, the sheriff’s office was made aware of a video that showed a man punching a dog multiple times near Hannah Ave South and 17th Street SW in Lehigh Acres.

The video was posted online, and LCSO responded to where the incident happened. Schlotmann was identified near the scene and arrested for the animal abuse.

Thanos, the dog, was removed by Lee County Domestic Animal Services and has since found a loving home.

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