{"id":171748,"date":"2026-02-27T17:57:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171748\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T17:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:57:06","slug":"video-shows-dog-dragged-behind-pickup-truck-owner-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171748\/","title":{"rendered":"Video shows dog dragged behind pickup truck, owner arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A 69-year-old man is facing charges after being caught on camera dragging his Australian cattle dog behind his pickup truck in <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/topic\/North%20Florida\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">North Fort Myers<\/a>, leaving the dog fighting with severe injuries.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheriffleefl.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sheriff Carmine Marceno of Lee County<\/a> announced that deputies received reports of a dog being dragged behind a black F-150 pickup truck at the intersection of Bartholomew Drive and Laurel Lane on Thursday. <\/p>\n<p>According to officials, a concerned citizen witnessed the act, recorded it, confronted the driver, and immediately called 911.<\/p>\n<p>Responding deputies reported finding the truck and stopping it, where they met the suspect, Johnny Lee Davis. <\/p>\n<p>Upon searching the vehicle, detectives said they found blood throughout both the interior and exterior, which they believed belonged to the dog.<\/p>\n<p>Further investigation led deputies to execute a search warrant at Davis&#8217; home, where they found the dog, an Australian cattle dog named Ruthie, suffering from severe injuries. <\/p>\n<p>Ruthie was rescued and received emergency veterinary care from law enforcement and the Lee County Domestic Animal Services. <\/p>\n<p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/local\/mother-arrested-after-six-children-found-alone-during-apartment-fire-florida-deputies-say-palm-beach-county-sheriffs-office-fire-rescue-lake-worth-beach-child-abuse-arrest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mother arrested after 6 children found alone during apartment fire, FL deputies say<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sheriff Marceno shared some good news: despite the grave trauma Ruthie experienced, she is a fighter and is still alive. <\/p>\n<p>**WARNING: Video contains graphic content**<\/p>\n<p>Johnny Davis has been arrested and charged with one count of aggravated animal cruelty.<\/p>\n<p>The sheriff made it clear that such cruelty will not be tolerated in Lee County. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This case is horrifying and disturbing,&#8221; said Sheriff Marceno. &#8220;If you abuse an animal in Lee County, there will be consequences.&#8221; He assured the public that every resource would be used to seek justice for Ruthie and protect others who cannot speak for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding Davis\u2019 background, the sheriff confirmed that while he does not have a recent history of animal abuse, if found guilty, he will be placed on the animal abuse registry, preventing him from owning another animal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A 69-year-old man is facing charges after being caught on camera dragging&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-171748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}