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OGDEN — A 26-year-old senior airman was arrested Wednesday and charged with beating, force feeding and trying to drown two puppies.
Senior airman Joshua Carroll is charged with two counts of torture of a companion animal, a third-degree felony, and cruelty to animals, a class B misdemeanor.
Animal control received a report from Carroll's ex-boyfriend two days after he moved out of their house. The report was forwarded to Ogden police, along with footage from three videos that show Carroll abusing two 5-month-old puppies, according to charging documents.
One video from June 19 shows one black and gray heeler and shepherd mix named Poet being held under the water of a plastic kiddie pool. Police say the dog was held under the water for around 10 seconds in the video, but appeared to be fully submerged before the video started, the charges state.
"Joshua grabbed Poet by the throat with his right hand and lifted her lifeless body from the water while he stood up," according to the charges.
Poet survived that encounter, and could be seen in another video on July 28 at a dog food bowl, where Carroll "violently grabs Poet and lifts her up by the throat, which knocked the dog bowls over. Joshua can be heard telling Poet she had made a mess like she always does," the charges say. Later in the video, Carroll can allegedly be seen "grabbing handfuls of the spilt dog food and appears to be shoving the food into Poet's mouth then forcing her to chew the food with his hands moving her jaw open and close."
In a video on July 30, police say Carroll is captured outside with Poet and her littermate Harley, where the puppies had attacked a chicken in the backyard. Carroll is seen "holding Harley down and spanking the dog on the rear end," the charges allege.
When Carroll was interviewed by police, he said that after submerging the dogs "they were breathing but not alert," and were "lethargic for the evening but were back to normal the next morning," according to the court documents.
Carroll blamed his ex-boyfriend for "trying to get back at him for a failed relationship," and said "he was simply disciplining the dogs for attacking and killing his favorite chicken," the charges state. He allegedly said he "had been angry about the dogs killing his chicken so he did not remember a lot of what happened."
Carroll's first court appearance is scheduled Aug. 6. Hill Air Force Base did not immediately respond to request for comment.
