Miami police are investigating the disturbing discovery near Dinner Key as city commissioners prepare to consider three proposals to strengthen animal protection laws.
Miami police are investigating the death of a dog found submerged in the waters near Dinner Key, its leash tied to cinder blocks, in an incident that has drawn widespread outrage and renewed attention to animal cruelty in the city.
Police said the dog was discovered Tuesday in shallow waters off a public boat ramp just south of Miami City Hall.
A witness interviewed by the Spotlight said he had first spotted the animal underwater two days earlier, near a channel marker off Clarington Island, the southernmost in a chain of five barrier islands a few hundred yards offshore, surrounded by hundreds of sailboats.
Police have not established how the dog died, its breed, who owned it or who was responsible for leaving it in the water.
“On Tuesday October 13, 2026, we became aware of the incident involving a dog tied to cinder blocks and in the bay,” Miami Police Public Information Officer Michael Vega told the Spotlight.
“While investigating, we were speaking with a man who was arrested for drugs, but we have not determined if he was the offender of the dog incident or if he was the owner of the dog,” Vega said.
Police responded to a report from a local resident who lives aboard a sailboat near Dinner Key.
Police did not say who recovered the dog’s body or what became of it.
Dylan Correa of Miami Water Sports told the Spotlight he had spotted the submerged dog Sunday near a channel marker off approaching Clarington Island but did not report it to authorities.
“I saw the dog underwater out by the channel marker,” Correa said. “It looked like it had been there a few days.”
Correa said he initially wondered whether someone had disposed of a pet that had already died.
“Was it a burial at sea? I don’t know, but if it was, it sure was a bad job.”
On Wednesday afternoon, a Spotlight reporter found the cinder blocks beneath a dock at the Seminole Boat Ramp, with what appeared to be the dog’s leash still attached. It was unclear whether police had examined the blocks as part of their investigation or why they remained at the scene.
The discovery has prompted an angry public response, including from District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo, who represents Coconut Grove.
“There are some lines you do not cross. This is one,” Pardo wrote in a statement posted to Instagram Tuesday.
Pardo said he was communicating with Miami police and Miami-Dade County Animal Services to follow the investigation and determine where the dog came from, how it ended up in the water and who was responsible.
Curiously, the incident comes just days before the Miami City Commission is scheduled to consider three separate proposals to strengthen the city’s animal protection laws, including two competing measures that would sharply increase civil fines for animal cruelty.
Pardo and District 4 Commissioner Ralph Rosado have introduced separate ordinances that would take advantage of a change in Florida law this year allowing municipalities to impose civil fines of up to $2,500 for a first animal cruelty violation, $5,000 for a second and $7,500 for subsequent violations.
Miami’s existing civil penalties for animal-related violations generally range from $50 to $500.
Pardo’s proposal would impose the maximum fines allowed under the new law for specified violations. Rosado’s would establish somewhat lower initial penalties — $2,000 for a first violation, $4,000 for a second and $6,000 for subsequent violations — increasing to the statutory maximums if violations are contested and upheld or remain unpaid.
Both proposals would amend the same section of the city’s animal-control code, although they establish different penalty structures. It remains unclear whether commissioners intend to reconcile the measures before a vote.
Neither Pardo nor Rosado responded to the Spotlight’s requests for comment about their proposals.
Rosado’s ordinance goes further, adding restrictions on pet sales and prohibiting dogs from being left unattended on balconies without shade or water, during severe weather advisories or for more than an hour overnight.
Those provisions come amid another recent animal cruelty case in Miami.
In late September, police arrested a downtown resident on a felony animal cruelty charge after neighbors reported a severely malnourished French bulldog confined to a high-rise balcony for approximately two weeks. The dog was rescued and placed in the care of Miami-Dade County Animal Services, according to multiple news sources.
A third ordinance, sponsored by Commissioner Christine King, would clarify the city’s leash requirements, strengthen restrictions on animals running loose in public places and update animal-control enforcement provisions.
All three measures are scheduled for consideration at the commission’s Thursday, Oct. 22 meeting. The proposals were prepared separately, and their precise introduction dates have not yet been established.
The proposed changes primarily address civil enforcement. Florida law already provides criminal penalties for animal cruelty, including felony charges for aggravated cruelty. Whether any criminal charges will result from the Dinner Key investigation remains unknown.
Police have not said whether they have identified the dog’s owner, determined the cause of death or established how the animal came to be submerged with its leash attached to cinder blocks.
In his statement Tuesday, Pardo pledged to continue following the investigation. “We will find out where the dog came from, how it got into the water, and who is responsible,” he wrote.
