APRIL 26--A Florida man was arrested yesterday after taking a dog named Blackie out for an evening swim--except the pooch was anchored in four feet of water by a 30-pound dumbbell to which the animal was tethered by a rope around its neck, police charge.

William Bell, 41, allegedly took the two-year-old pit bull mix with him when he went to a boat ramp on the Manatee River to do some fishing. That is where Bell “tied his dog to a 30lb dumb bell and walked it into the water that was about 4 feet deep,” according to a probable cause affidavit.

Bell then “set the weight in the water and left the dog to swim,” according to Palmetto Police Department Officer Micah Mathews, who added that the animal “was unable to touch the ground and was not able to move the weight.” Blackie, seen above, was literally left to doggy paddle for his life.

Bell, pictured in the below mug shot, would later tell cops that he put the dog in the water so that it would get some “exercise.”

When Officer Mathews arrived at the boat ramp, he could “only see the nose of the dog out of the water.” Bell claimed Blackie had been “swimming in place for fifteen minutes.”

Mathews reported that he asked Bell if he “would like to be anchored and left to either swim or die.” The suspect responded, “Hell no."

Bell, charged with felony animal cruelty, was released from the Manatee County Jail early this morning after posting $1000 bond. Blackie, who was placed last night in the custody of the county’s animal services division, was released today to Bell’s cousin, the dog’s owner. (1 page)