BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — Two men are facing aggravated animal cruelty charges after authorities said they left a vest on their dog for months, allowing it to grow into the dog’s skin and causing the animal severe pain.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said when the suspects contacted an animal shelter to surrender the dog, one of them asked, “How about I just knock him in the head with a shovel.”
In a video posted by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Ivey said the suspects, Michael Borowski and Nestor Quanzon, adopted a small dog named Teddy from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Animal Care Center in September 2025. The sheriff’s office said the pair put a vest on Teddy in October and admitted to law enforcement that they had never removed it.
In May, Borowski contacted the shelter asking to surrender Teddy, claiming the dog had become aggressive. Ivey said shelter staff tried to provide resources to help rehome the dog, but Borowski instead asked, “How about I just knock him in the head with a shovel?” That statement prompted a response from the Palm Bay Police Department and Brevard County Animal Services officers.
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Ivey said when law enforcement officers arrived, Teddy was in so much pain that animal enforcement officers could not examine him. Borowski was instructed to take Teddy to a veterinary clinic, where veterinarians found the vest had grown into the dog’s skin after being left on for months.
According to Ivey, veterinarians had to surgically remove the vest from Teddy’s skin and found the dog had an odor indicating a severe infection.
“Absolutely disgusting. He had a necrotic smell to him… these individuals did nothing to help him. And then when they couldn’t touch him, I wonder why, because he was in so much damn pain,” Ivey said.
Both Quanzon and Borowski were arrested and booked into the Brevard County Jail. Ivey said each suspect received a $10,000 bond, which he called far too low.
“Both of them got arrested for one count of aggravated animal cruelty. They got a weak a** bond. Judge, I apologize but I’d let them rot in jail just like they let that vest rot on that poor dog,” Ivey said.
