A Sarasota woman was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after she killed her own dog, Sarasota County Sheriff's Office deputies said.
Shelley Bezanson, 28, was arrested on Friday, Jan. 17 after officials said she chose to kill and choked her 7-year-old dog named Diamond because she did not want anyone else to have the animal, NBC affiliate WFLA reported.
She ended her pit bull's life by choking it with its own chain, according to the sheriff's office.
"It was prolonged, it was painful, it was torturous, and it was a horrible, horrible death for this dog to die," sheriff's office spokeswoman Wendy Rose told WFLA.
A deputy was sent to a Venice home on Nov. 14 after authorities got an anonymous tip that Bezanson had gone to her mother's house to bury her dog, WFLA reported.
An investigation revealed that Bezanson tried to convince her veterinarian to euthanize the dog but the vet refused because the pet was not sick, WFLA reported.
A representative of the Humane Society of Sarasota County said that Bezanson adopted Diamond in January 2013, but did not contact the organization about returning the animal, according to WFLA.
Bezanson is being held on $25,000 bond and is due to be arraigned Feb. 14, online jail records showed. It was not known whether she has an attorney.
