Drowned pit bull found tied to cinder block in Florida waters

ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - Avid fisherman Phillip Valeriani, of Plant City, was shocked when he found a dead pit bull floating in the waters off Weedon Island Thursday.

"Who the hell would do this, that was my initial reaction," he said.

He took photos. The dog was a 2 to 3 year old female pit bull. Someone tied a rope around the dog's neck and attached it to a cinder block, anchoring it to the bottom.

"Somebody that can do that is capable of much more," he said.

Pinellas County deputies want to know who is behind this. They could face charges.

The SPCA Tampa Bay did perform a necropsy on the dog and says there are signs it may have been dead before being tossed in the water. We're told there weren't any obvious signs of dog-fighting trauma. Officials also tell us it doesn't appear to have been microchipped.

"If it was done while it was alive, if it was done while it was dead ,it's still a horrible act - there's much more humane ways of going about that," said Valeriani.

"One way or the other, whoever did this is not okay mentally, and I do believe they need to have justice served on them," he said.

If you know anything about this case, contact the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office at 727-582-6200 or you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS.

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