Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include a statement from a Lake County spokesperson regarding the Lake County Animal Shelter.
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TAVARES, Fla. — A man is facing animal cruelty and abandonment charges after investigators say he surrendered his starving dog to the Lake County Animal Shelter as a “found dog” earlier this year, according to a probable cause affidavit.
On Jan. 25, Edualdo Rodriguez, 55, surrendered the severely emaciated male American bulldog as a “found dog,” but a Lake County Sheriff’s Office investigation found Rodriguez had acknowledged owning the dog nearly a year earlier. Shelter records showed Rodriguez said he could not provide the dog with the care it needed in March 2025, according to the affidavit.
“Mr. Rodriguez scheduled a phone appointment with Lake County Animal Shelter on March 19, 2025, to discuss surrendering his dog. Shelter staff attempted to contact him at the scheduled time, but he did not answer the call. The shelter’s involvement in this case stems from that missed phone consultation appointment,” Lake County Communications Manager Lexie Farmer said in an email to Inside Lake.
“In part, because of those records, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office was able to confirm that the dog was not a ‘found dog’ but was, in fact, Mr. Rodriguez’s dog,” Farmer said.
Investigators also confirmed through prior contact with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office that Rodriguez still owned the dog in November 2025.
“The canine was in extremely poor condition, severely emaciated at 40.6 pounds, with visible muscle wasting, skeletal prominence, wounds and pale mucous membranes,” the detective investigating the case wrote in the affidavit.
Veterinary staff determined the approximately 3-year-old dog’s condition was consistent with severe starvation. A feeding plan and supportive care were initiated, but the dog was found dead the following morning, according to the affidavit.
A necropsy determined the dog died from a gastric foreign body impaction caused by ingested clothing. It also revealed gastrointestinal inflammation, evidence of prolonged malnutrition and bone marrow fat content of just 0.8 percent, compared with a normal 59.4 percent, confirming severe starvation, according to the affidavit.
A warrant was issued for Rodriguez’s arrest in April. He was taken into custody Tuesday and released on $3,500 bond.
