A Florida man was arrested and charged with sexually abusing his Siberian Husky after police were sent a video showing the alleged abuse.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office opened its investigation after an informant alerted them to the video seen on the Internet, according to Fox 12. The informant initially alerted Pinellas County Animal Services about the abuse.
The video depicted a man wearing a dog costume as he abused the animal. The dog was clearly in distress on the video. At one point the animal tried to get away from its abuser, but the man began hitting the dog with a sex toy, according to investigators.
Detectives say they later identified the man in the costume as Christian Stewart Oscar Nichols, 21. According to a police report, Nichols admitted that he was the man in the video when confronted by officers.
Nichols was charged with one count of animal cruelty. He was booked and is being held on $5,000 bail, according to court records. Animal services also removed two dogs from the suspect’s home, including the animal abused on the video.
Prosecutors are contemplating more charges.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.