JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville man who admitted to police that he strangled and killed a puppy he had been asked to watch for the night was recently arrested.
Investigators with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Jacob Lee strangled a dog to death because it had an accident in the house.
"The suspect lost it. He grabbed the dog and squeezed the life out of it -- literally," said JSO spokesman Ken Jefferson.
Police said the puppy didn't even belong to Lee. The pet's owner, who is on vacation, told Channel 4 by phone that her friend was watching the dog and it was that friend who left the dog with Lee.
The owner said the puppy was a female red-nosed pit bull that she only had for one week.
According to a police report, Lee admitted "the dog p***** on my bed," and then he went "ballistic killed the dog snapped its neck."
Police said Lee admitted he messed up and that he killed the dog in anger. They said he did so by squeezing its body.
"He literally just crushed the life out of the little puppy," Jefferson said.
Investigators said the dead puppy was discarded like trash. They said Lee put the puppy in a plastic bag, and then left it behind his house.
That's where investigators said they found the evidence to arrest Lee.
"Animal cruelty is a serious offense, up to the point where it's a third-degree felony. He could really spend sometime in jail," Jefferson said.
Lee remains in jail on animal cruelty charges. His bond has been set at $25,000.