DOCUMENT: Animals, Florida, Crime

Man Plays Vet, Kills Dog

Floridian charged for performing "surgery" on injured pet

Zoe

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Man Plays Vet, Kills Dog

JANUARY 21--Meet William Jones and Zoe, the two-year-old hound/retriever mix Jones is accused of killing.

Here's how the headline on the Broward County Sheriff's Office press release describes the alleged crime: "Dog Sitter Kills Animal During Improvised Surgery."

Arrested yesterday, the Florida man, 55, is facing two felony animal abuse counts in connection with last Wednesday's bizarre incident at Jones's Oakland Park home (according to a sheriff's report, Zoe had been living with Jones for about a year). The dog's owner, Danielle Vecchio, had asked him to care for the animal after she was not allowed to keep the pet in her new residence.

The dog's death was the result of a cascading series of events that began with the animal getting a small laceration on its chest, and ended with Zoe being killed with chloroform. If convicted of the felony raps, Jones faces up to 20 years in prison. (4 pages)