A Flint man caught on camera beating his dog with a broom is now facing charges.
The incident happened on Oct. 11. Lovell Farmer, a 38-year-old man from Flint, claims he was trying to train his dog that had run away to a neighbor’s home down the road.
However, surveillance video shows Farmer beating the dog with a broom.
“So, he has a broom, a short broom in his left hand, and he’s beating the dog and disciplining the dog. He beats, disciplines the dog and drags the puppy away by the left hind leg,” Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson said.
“You are not going to get away with beating and abusing or taking advantage of vulnerable people or animals in this county,” Swanson said.
Swanson credits residents for stepping up and taking action to help get the dog, who is being called ‘Sweet Pea’, out of an abusive situation.
Sweet Pea was turned over to Genesee County Animal Control and is being cared for by a foster family.
Farmer is facing criminal charges of animal abuse, neglect, torture, abandoning an animal, and a unrelated charge of delivering and manufacturing of cocaine.