MACON, GA (RNN) - Videos posted to Facebook appear to show sheriff’s deputies telling a man to cut his dogs head off after they shot it.
Joe Nate Godwin told the Macon Telegraph he decapitated his 2-year-old dog, Big Boy, after a deputy was called to the house. The dog bit one of his neighbors on the leg.
He recorded the altercation with an investigator who arrived after the incident and told him he had to remove the dead dog’s head to have it tested for rabies because of Georgia law.
Some of the Facebook videos were taken down because they were so graphic. The others still contain vulgar language.
Click here to see the videos. WARNING, some viewers may find the content disturbing
Godwin was not at home when the deputy responded to the call, and shot the dog after it lunged at him. His girlfriend called him and told him Big Boy was dead, and he came straight home from work.
The videos showed investigator James Hollis of the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office informing Godwin that he had to take the dog’s head off. The men argued and Godwin cursed the investigator, who threatened to arrest him.
Godwin he said he didn’t have a knife to do it with. He told the Telegraph the deputies gave him the option of paying a veterinarian to cut the dog’s head off, but with Christmas around the corner money was tight.
The girlfriend wound up removing the dog’s head with a kitchen knife while Godwin and one of the deputies gave her instructions, the Telegraph reported. A video showed that she put the dog’s head in a white plastic bag. The investigator told her to deliver it to the health department that night. She took it there at 7 p.m. and said she cried all the way.
The sheriff’s office said an internal investigation is underway regarding the videoed incident. Hollis was at work Monday.
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