A distressing photograph has captured the moment law enforcement officers seized a terrified puppy, which veterinarians determined was suffering from cocaine exposure. John Burt Sparhawk, 62, of Jensen Beach, Florida, was arrested on Thursday and charged with animal cruelty in connection with his five-month-old puggle named Inga, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Office. A puggle is a cross between a beagle and a pug.
The arrest came more than a week after a witness reported hearing a puppy's desperate cries before allegedly seeing Sparhawk holding Inga above his head by the leash. 'I still can't get the screams of the dog out of my head,' neighbor Casey Rosica, who contacted authorities, told WPEC News. 'It's eating at me.'
The puppy was rushed to an emergency veterinarian, where doctors discovered cocaine in her system. In a heartbreaking image shared by police, Inga is seen staring straight ahead, wide-eyed and visibly distressed, with her ears down and a paw resting on a car dashboard. 'The dog's pupils were blown... similar to a human being's pupils,' Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek told WPBF News. 'It's disgusting.'
After medical treatment, Inga was placed in the care of the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast while authorities continued their investigation. She is now understood to be doing well in the organization's care.
The alleged cruelty began to unfold around midnight on April 28, when 29-year-old Rosica was awakened by what she says sounded like a puppy's yelps echoing through her neighborhood. She got into her truck to track down the noises, where she says she came across Sparhawk, her neighbor, outside with Inga the puppy. 'I ran out of the truck and I see a dog about six and a half feet in the air and it's screaming for its life,' Rosica told WPBF. 'I said, "Hey! What are you doing with that dog?"' she added. 'And he freaked out, he really didn't know how to respond, and he dropped the dog.'
A second witness claimed to have seen Sparhawk wrapping the leash around Inga's neck before lifting her off the ground several times, cops said. The puppy appeared to be choking and unable to bark, according to the witness, crying out each time she was dropped back onto the pavement. Sparhawk said Inga was suffering from a seizure, according to cops. Rosica said she went to investigate and 'saw a dog about six and a half feet in the air and it's screaming for its life.'
'I said, If the dog is having a seizure, why are your fingers down its throat?' Rosica told WPBF. Sparhawk is accused of telling another neighbor that his puppy was having a seizure and suggested taking Inga to the hospital before walking away entirely, according to police.
After a joint call from the neighbors, a deputy arrived and rushed the puppy, who Budensiek said was trembling, to an emergency clinic, where she was treated for seizures. It was at that point that veterinarians determined that Inga's medical episode was caused by cocaine in her small, five-month-old body, cops said.
Meanwhile, investigators said Sparhawk never asked about Inga's condition or whereabouts, instead claiming she may have eaten a mushroom or other toxic plant in the woods, police told the outlet. 'I'm not sitting here saying the dog stole his stash or it was his stash at all or that he injected the dog with cocaine,' Budensiek said, according to WPBF. 'I'm just simply telling you that the dog was highly intoxicated on cocaine.'
Fortunately, Inga appeared to be on the road to recovery, healing both physically and emotionally, and was seen at the Humane Society playing in the yard and affectionately licking staff members' faces. But deputies say they later received a call from the organization reporting that Sparhawk had unexpectedly arrived and allegedly began threatening staff members. 'Our deputies responded out there, trespassed him, and he cannot go back on their property. The dog is safe, and he was arrested because we had a warrant for him,' the sheriff told the outlet.
Sparhawk was placed behind bars on Thursday before bonding out, though for the time being he will not be getting Inga back into his possession. 'It's disgusting in the sense that this individual went out there and was strangling his dog,' Budensiek added. Investigators have ordered Sparhawk to stay away from the Humane Society, as Inga is now considered evidence while authorities work to determine what happened in those early hours. It remains unclear when or where Sparhawk is expected to appear in court next.
