Man arrested on animal cruelty, resisting arrest

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Deputies arrested a man in Chipley on Monday on multiple animal cruelty charges.

On Feb. 6, deputies arrived at a location on Ambassador Drive with the property owner, who said she owned the land for years but hadn’t visited it in over a year.

Owner and deputies reportedly saw several dogs chained that appeared to be malnourished and had no visible access to water.

Deputies say attempted contact was made with adjoined property owner, 64-year-old Johnny Lee Washington, but were unsuccessful.

Animal Control was contacted in an attempt to remove the animals, where officials say Washington returned to his property before ACO arrived.

WCSO says they informed Washington he was trespassing on the adjacent property, where he agreed and told deputies he just wanted to take his dogs.

Due to the alleged trespassing, housing dogs on someone else’s property and the condition of the dogs discovered, a search warrant was executed on Washington’s residence, where deputies say over 30 dogs were located on 3 different adjoining properties.

Washington was arrested and transported to Washington County Jail. He is facing charges of trespassing, 27 counts of animal cruelty, 1 aggravated animal cruelty, and resisting arrest.

All dogs are currently being evaluated for their health and well-being.

Additional charges may be forthcoming.