Shocking video shows a Florida dog trainer who reportedly has thousands of followers on TikTok choking and kicking a German shepherd, according to The Daily Mail.
Blessing Knighten, 21, was taken into custody and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail Thursday after another dog trainer turned in several videos of her mistreating pets to authorities. The video above was described in the police report saying, Knighten was seen choking a dog for 15 to 20 seconds as the animal’s legs are lifted off the ground and he cries out in pain.
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The woman has since been charged with five counts of animal cruelty as officials say they are looking forward to bringing her to justice. ‘Animal cruelty has no place in our community and we will see it prosecuted every time we can,’ Dave Walesky with Palm Beach Animal Care and Control told WPTV.
‘Palm Beach County has zero tolerance for animal cruelty and we’re very thankful for those partnerships with the state attorney’s office and also with the sheriff’s office and all of the other police departments,’ Walesky continued.
Investigators were first aware of the situation back in mid March by the owner of Fine Line Family K-9, Steve Cabral.
Cabral filed two complaints, one against Knighten and another one against a former employee who was not named because she moved to Michigan.
‘He showed me a video of Blessing Knighten strangling a German shepherd on what Cabral called a bite box,’ the arrest report obtained by WPTV reads.
‘The dog’s front legs were off the ground. She then walks the dog around and the dog appears to be limping and in distress. She then hangs the dog back on the bite box. It struggles, and you can hear the dog yelp.’ Knighten was only working with the company for 2 months and has since been fired. Knighten reportedly told police, however, that it was Cabral who had instructed her to mistreat the dogs.
Animal cruelty is a criminal offense in Florida, and the penalties for violating the state’s animal cruelty laws can include imprisonment. The length of the sentence will depend on the severity of the offense, and whether the offender has any prior convictions for animal cruelty.
Under Florida law, a first-degree misdemeanor offense of animal cruelty is punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $5,000. A third-degree felony offense of animal cruelty is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.