Manatee County Sheriff's Office said a now-former Hardee County deputy is charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty after Ring video footage surfaced on Facebook that investigators said showed him hitting and dragging a dog.
Officials said Nicholas Zotto was running a dog daycare and boarding business out of his Manatee County home.
Local residents alerted the Manatee County Sheriff's Office and Animal Services of the Ring camera videos that were circulating on Facebook.
An investigation was done by the joint Manatee County Animal Cruelty Task Force, which also includes the 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office.
The prosecutor received a recommendation on Wednesday from investigators, recommending charges.
In addition to one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, Zotto has also been cited for violating a county ordinance relating to the running of his business.
Calls to Zotto for comment went unanswered and unreturned on Thursday. Palmetto resident Joyce Spencer had been taking her two dogs — Miah and Ozzy — to Pawsome Sitters for the last two years. She said she would take her dogs — both pit bull mixes — once a week to daycare so they could socialize and play with the other dogs. Spencer said her dogs were also boarded there about six times.
But that came to an end about a month ago when she first said the Ring camera videos on Facebook. She immediately let Zotto know that they would not be going to daycare the following day and has never taken them back since.
Spencer said she has worried about other dogs, however, whose owners have not seen the videos and might still be taking the dogs to Zotto.
“This was completely traumatizing to me, to see these videos," she added. I’m so angry, and the fact that he was a police officer obviously made me trust him even more.”
Zotto was terminated by the Hardee County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, also citing the videos depicting animal abuse.
"Deputy Zotto's actions have fallen short of the ethical and moral standards we demand from all members of our law enforcement team," a statement from the office included.
