FREDERIKSTED — A St. Croix man who became infamous in Facebook videos for throwing his pit bulls into the Caribbean Sea off of the Anne E. Abramson Marine Facility and forcing them to swim back to shore was arrested on animal abuse charges Monday.
Reginald Bell, 50, was arrested about 2:30 p.m. Monday and charged with first-degree animal abuse, second-degree animal abuse and second-degree animal neglect, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Bell was booked and remanded to the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility after failing to post a $10,000.00 bail pending an advice-of-rights hearing, according to the VIPD.
Two of the dogs that were in Bell’s possession at the time of arrest were taken into protective custody by police.
At the advice of rights hearing, Reginald Bell was released to a third-party custodian pending further court action.
Reginald Bell is the individual who claimed to have a disability and used his dogs as “service dogs.”
“There’s a petition on Social Media with a video attached, that shows Reginald Bell throwing his dogs into the ocean from the Frederiksted Pier and forced them to swim long distances,.” VIPD spokesman Glen Dratte said. “The petition has obtained more than 7,000 signatures and he continued to commit the same act at the same place numerous times.”
This news article was updated on February 27, 2022 to include this Facebook comment.
“Three years ago I arrested this P.O.S. ‘three years ago,’ ACE said. “On the day for his advise of rights hearing, he was released to a third party custodian. He was never put on trial, paid a fine, no community service, nothing, just walked and he’s probably in the states doing the same shit, while I went through hell and back to save the dogs that he abused. Not to many people know the extent of shit I endured from those in power for doing my job in this case. As a matter of fact, not one of my ten arrest for cruelty has made it to trial. Welcome to the world of abuse and neglect, cause that’s what I’ve got in return, abused and neglected. I will not stay silent anymore. ‘ACE'”
This person is definitely a pscho!They should take him out to where he threw the dogs and let’s see if he makes it back to shore. Incarcerate him for LIFE!No one needs some uncaring person to walk the face of this earth.
Great news! This man horrified so many people by what he was doing and they took action. Very happy to see this man will face legal action and his dogs were taken away.
Glad this criminal is facing justice for such cruelty to animals. The world has spoken we are not going to tolerate poor behavior towards living creatures.
He’s lucky I wasn’t there to throw his ass off. Glad people stood up and demanded something be done. Now I hope justice is served.
So Happy those poor animals are away from that Monster there is a Special Place in Hell for people like him who hurt innocent creatures!
I am a proud owner of 3 St. Croix rescue dogs…2 of which are pitbulls. I have swam the entirety of the pier with my 2 pitbulls countless times. This man, as apparent to me from these videos, was not hurting his pups; he was strengthening them. Pitbulls are working dogs that want nothing more than purpose and to be pushed. These dogs love to be pushed to their limits by their master. It appears to me that this man was pushing his dogs (while keeping a close on them walking the pier next to them) rather than neglecting them like so many owners do. He should be praised rather than shit upon.
Give the pitbull owners who have their dogs chained up for the entirety of their lives a hard time… not the man who’s working his dogs and giving them praise when they complete their feat.
I’m sure every single person that signed the petition wanted to adopt those pups. Sad part is the those dogs were probably euthanized because of their breed – although I hope not.