‘You let it suffer:’ Owner taken to jail after dog found emaciated, Brevard sheriff says

A disturbing case of animal abuse out of Brevard County when a dog was found as just skin and bones, according to the sheriff’s office.

This week, the owner was taken into custody.

In a video statement posted on Facebook, Sheriff Wayne Ivey said they initially spotted the emaciated dog — nicknamed “Brutus” — during a wellness check.

At the time, Brutus scarfed down the food they gave him, though he ultimately died the next day, Ivey explained.

Since then, investigators said they learned a vet examined Brutus last year, at which time he was already bone thin.

The vet recommended follow-up tests for Brutus, but instead, the owner — Vasudeva Sankar, 37 — did nothing, even while the dog was in severe pain, investigators added.

“My heart wrenched for this little pup that, if he had been taken back, who knows what a doctor could have done, whether they could have saved him or at least addressed his health humanely,” Ivey said. “But instead, this guy does nothing. In fact, there was a dog in the house that was just fine… But this dog was outside starving to death.”

Sankar was taken into custody on Thursday and now faces a charge of animal cruelty. He is held on bond of $5,000.