Woman accused of pepper-spraying dogs at park
A Cape Coral woman was arrested after police said she sprayed multiple dogs at a local park with pepper spray despite not being in any immediate danger.
Charlene Tedesco, 67, was charged with one count of animal cruelty for an alleged incident Saturday morning at Rotary Park.
Cape Coral Police Department officials said officers were called to the park before 9 a.m. in answer to a report that a woman walking a medium-sized dog was “spraying something at multiple dogs.”
According to police, a witness told them that a woman, later identified as Tedesco, was walking outside of the dog park, which is enclosed by a 5-foot fence on all sides, and then when a dog within the park approached her and her dog, she “would spray some kind of chemical at the dog.”
Police said additional witnesses at the park told officers the woman was also spraying their dogs with what appeared to be mace/pepper spray.
According to a CCPD press release, “Another witness told officers a dog was sprayed in the eyes and was yelping, crying, and trying to rub its eyes in the dirt. The witness said he helped the owner wash the dog’s eyes out with a hose. He also said the woman had sprayed multiple other dogs on other occasions. Another witness said the woman admitted to spraying dogs if they get too close to the fence.
After making contact with Tedesco, police officials said she told officers she sprays the dogs’ feet with pepper spray because she’s worried they’ll attack her, adding that she does not enter the fenced-in dog park but walks around the outside of it.
Officers determined Tedesco drove to the dog park, approached the fenced-in area, was never in danger due to there being a barrier (fence) between her and the dogs playing within the park, and utilized pepper spray on the dogs, causing torment.
Tedesco was also issued a trespass warning and told she could not return to the park.
Tedesco was released from Lee County Jail the next day on a $500 bond.