MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida veterinarian is facing charges of possessing child pornography and sexually abusing a dog, authorities said.Prentiss Madden, 40, was arrested by federal agents on Tuesday and ordered held pending a Friday bond hearing, court records show. Court records did not list a lawyer for him, and it wasn’t immediately clear who could speak in his defense.
Madden was medical director of Caring Hands Animal Hospital in Miami until he was fired two weeks ago, when colleagues learned he was under investigation for "these heinous and unthinkable crimes," the hospital said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Our legal team, and every single member of the Caring Hands family will be doing everything in our power to aid law enforcement and facilitate their investigation and prosecution," the statement read.
Madden’s charges fall under a federal law outlawing animal abuse, which was initially created in response to a genre of cruelty in which people record the harming of animals for the sexual gratification of viewers, the Miami Herald reported.