A Tampa man is accused of killing his mother's dog, then cooking part of the dog and storing the rest in the freezer.

Thomas E. Huggins, 25, was arrested Friday morning and charged with animal cruelty in the death of the family dog, which was between 5 and 6 months old.



According to police, Huggins strangled the dog, a pitbull mix named Bandit, at 8 a.m. Thursday. After the dog was dead, police said Huggins cut the dog into quarters and stored it in the freezer for future meals.

A family member called police at 11 p.m. and when officers arrived, they met with Huggins, his sister and his mother, who was the dog's owner. Huggin's mother, Margie, took the officer inside the house and showed him a pair of full ribs on the stove that appeared to be fully cooked. Police said Huggins had eaten some of the dog's ribs before they arrived.



She then showed the officer the quartered parts of her dog that had been stored in the freezer, the report said. Then she took the officer outside and showed him the dog's head, hide and insides.

Huggin's sister, Monica, told officers that she went to the house after her mother called, and when she got there, Huggins told her he had killed the dog and cooked it because "they needed something to eat," the police report said.

Police said Huggin's sister told them that the suspect has "not been right" since "something happened" while he smoked marijuana a few years ago. She said he has also been going to church for a few years but that he has taken it to an extreme, "go[ing] on and on about religion and the Lord telling him to do things," the report said.

When police interviewed Huggins, he said his sister was trying to "drag his name through the dirt." He said the dog had become aggressive toward him, and that he he killed, skinned and cleaned the dog, just as his mother had taught him to do with squirrels and rabbits.

Huggins was taken into custody. Bond has been set at $2,000. Animal control officers responded and took possession of the dog's remains.