22/11/2025
WARNING: The cases below are difficult to read.
I have a very important meeting on Monday to discuss the lack of prosecution for animal abuse in Florida. I’ll share more details after the meeting, but I wanted to provide a few case examples that clearly show why real change is urgently needed.
Please sign these two petitions asking for the prosecution of animal abuse, But do not donate:
Ask for full prosecution for animal abuse in Florida: https://rebrand.ly/animaljustice
Justice for Trooper: https://rebrand.ly/ProsecuteAnimalAbuse
In Florida, animal abusers are arrested – but too often, charges are dropped or penalties are so light that there is effectively no accountability.
A. Christian Nichols – Sexual Assault of Dog on Video, Minimal Sentence (Oldsmar / Pinellas County)
• In Oldsmar (Pinellas County), 21-year-old Christian Stewart Oscar Nichols video-recorded himself performing s*x acts on his Siberian Husky, Ember, while wearing a black-and-white Husky costume, and posted the video online. He does 3D printing and printed out dog male genitalia that he used on the dog, along with his own body parts.
• Detectives described Ember as clearly in distress in the video; at one point she tried to escape and Nichols struck her with a s*x toy.
• Nichols admitted to making and sharing the video and was charged with aggravated animal cruelty and 10 additional obscenity-related charges, including more video of him s*xually assaulting other dogs.
• Outcome: Despite the extreme facts and video evidence, Nichols ultimately received only 36 months of probation – and that probation term was later cut roughly in half. There was no jail time at all, sending a message that even s*xualized torture of an animal can result in a short period of supervision and nothing more. He now owns another Husky.
What it shows
• Even s*xual torture of a dog on video resulted in no incarceration, only a short probation term.
B. “Chase” – Intentionally Run Over, Full Confession, Charges Dropped (Pasco County)
• In April 2025 in Holiday (Pasco County), family dog Chase slipped out of the yard and was intentionally run over and killed on Landau Street.
• Witnesses reported that the driver swerved toward Chase and hit him, killing him.
• The Pasco Sheriff’s Office later arrested Roger Elder, 59, for animal cruelty, identifying him as the driver of the pickup truck.
• According to the family and a petition with more than 3,800 signatures, Elder confessed he went looking for the dog and ran it over. He even stated in the police report, that he wished the dog was still alive so he could run him over again — yet the State Attorney’s Office dropped the charges.
What it shows
• Even with:
o An arrest, eyewitnesses, a reported confession, and strong community outrage, (my petition has over 3,800 signatures), the case was still dropped.
• This is not a “no evidence” situation – it is a policy choice about how seriously animal cruelty is treated in Pasco County.
C. Roberto Hernandez - Burned cat alive in a cage, got probation (Broward)
• Prosecutors reported that Roberto Hernandez trapped a stray cat in a small cage and doused the animal with a flammable liquid (all caught on surveillance video).
• He then lit the cat on fire, watched as the cat writhed in agony, and casually grabbed a drink while the cat suffered.
• After burning the cat, Hernandez fed the animal to his pit bulls, using the cat’s torture and death as a form of entertainment. He got probation.
D.“Trooper” – Abandoned in a Hurricane, Charges Dropped (Hillsborough)
• During Hurricane Milton (Oct. 2024), a bull terrier later named Trooper was found tethered to a fence in rising floodwaters near I-75 in Hillsborough County.
• Owner Giovanny Aldama Garcia was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty for abandoning Trooper during an evacuation; the case drew widespread media attention and helped inspire tougher legislation on cruelty and emergency abandonment (“Trooper’s Law”).
• Outcome: Despite the serious actions described in the police report—Giovanny Aldama Garcia admitted to law enforcement that he and his mother drove onto the highway, released the dog into rising hurricane waters, and left the animal behind, directly violating Florida Statute 828.13, which prohibits abandonment of animals—the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office ultimately dropped all criminal charges against him, resulting in no legal consequences for abandoning the dog during a hurricane. Why not at least charge him with the crime he confessed to, abandonment of animals?
What it shows
• Even when a case becomes a symbol and helps pass new law, the actual prosecution can simply disappear.
E. George Boyd – Felony Cat Killing, Just 15 Days in Jail (Sarasota / 12th Judicial Circuit)
• In Sarasota County, George Boyd was charged with felony animal cruelty after brutally killing a neighbor’s cat. According to reports, the cat was found with a bullet wound to the head, and Boyd admitted to shooting and killing the animal.
• The case went to trial, and a jury convicted Boyd of felony animal cruelty under Florida law.
• Outcome: Despite the felony conviction, Boyd was sentenced to just 15 days in jail in the Sarasota County Jail, followed by a term of probation and other standard conditions (such as no contact with animals).
What it shows
• Even when the state successfully prosecutes a felony animal cruelty case, the sentence can still be measured in days, not months or years.
• This kind of outcome undercuts the deterrent effect of Florida’s felony animal-cruelty statute and sends the message that killing a pet can still be treated as a minor offense.
F. Ponce’s Case – Law Changed, But the Abuser Didn’t See a Real Penalty
• In Archer v. State (Ponce’s case), a dog was brutally beaten and stabbed to death in Flagler County.
• The case triggered massive public outcry and led to Ponce’s Law, raising sentencing scores for aggravated animal cruelty so jail or prison would be more likely in severe cases.
• But Ponce’s Law did not apply retroactively, and the defendant did not receive a punishment proportionate to the cruelty involved. Travis Archer pled no contest to felony cruelty to animals after beating and stabbing his Labrador puppy, Ponce, to death. Archer was sentenced to 365 days (one year) in the county jail, followed by three years of probation.
• Important note: the enjoinment portion of Ponce’s law was overturned. In Florida, appellate courts have ruled that a judge cannot impose a condition (like banning animal ownership) that extends beyond the length of the sentence (probation). Once probation is over, the court loses jurisdiction, and the abuser is legally free to buy a dog the next day. THIS REQUIRES A STATUTORY FIX.
What it shows
• Even with the passing of new laws intended to strengthen animal abuse sentences, the laws cannot help if the cases are not prosecuted
Please sign both petitions, do not donate.
Ask for full prosecution for animal abuse in Florida: https://rebrand.ly/animaljustice
Justice for Trooper: https://rebrand.ly/ProsecuteAnimalAbuse
