Escambia County man acquitted of bestiality fights to get his dog back

A man acquitted of sexually abusing his dog is now in a custody battle with Escambia County to get the animal back.

Bradley Jean Hubbard told Judge Jan Shackleford immediately after the Aug. 24 jury verdict that he wanted the 80-pound pit bull named Baby Girl back in his custody.

The animal has remained with Escambia County Animal Control since Hubbard's arrest in January. Now that Hubbard has been legally cleared of the crimes, the county is still blocking the return of the dog.

The matter moved from criminal to civil court once the parties determined the custody issue needed to be addressed by the county court in a civil case.

As of Sept. 8, the county had not filed paperwork to block Baby Girl's return, despite Hubbard's request for the county to return his dog, according to an email filed in court documents written by Judge Shackleford, who oversaw Hubbard's trial.

More: Escambia County man accused of bestiality found not guilty of abusing family dog

"If the county has not filed a petition by the date of the hearing, I will need to know what authority the county has to continue to have custody and control of the dog," Shackleford wrote, following a note to schedule a hearing on the matter for Wednesday.

According to Escambia County court records, a petition was filed in the civil case on Sept. 11 to request a hearing, which has been scheduled for Monday. In that case, Escambia County is listed as the plaintiff and Hubbard is named as the defendant, along with his father, Donald Hubbard, and his father's ex-girlfriend, Melissa Parsons, all of whom testified at trial.

Hubbard's attorney, Gene Mitchell, said he will continue to represent his client through the civil matter, but declined to comment further on the case.

A county spokeswoman said the county's position is the judge in the criminal case has no jurisdiction to determine where Baby Girl should go. The county's argument is the dog's owners have been or are unable to provide reasonable care for the dog.

The county's amended petition for a custody hearing was filed Friday. It claims when animal control arrived at Hubbard's home in December to investigate Parsons' complaint, both Hubbard and Parsons accused each other of bestiality.

That allegation was not mentioned during Hubbard's trial, and an animal control officer testified it was Parsons who called authorities and said Hubbard was sexually abusing the dog.

The petition states Baby Girl was overweight, aggressive and had vaginal trauma caused by an unknown source.

"Defendants' ruthless mistreatment of their animal while demonstrating blatant disregard for its well being indicates a lack of proper and reasonable care and supports a finding that each defendant is and/or all defendants are unable and/or unfit to have custody of animals," the document states.

More: Abused dog held as evidence during bestiality case

According to the Florida Statute cited in the court documents, if the county judge finds Hubbard should get custody of Baby Girl, the county will need to hand her over within seven days of the ruling.

If the judge finds he shouldn't keep the animal, the court has several options, including ordering the animal be handed to the sheriff to be sold at public auction, killed or remanded to the county or an animal welfare group's custody.

The county's petition states that if granted custody, the county plans to send Baby Girl to an animal services partner agency in another state that will "ensure the dog lives a life that is as long and healthy as possible."