Leo Perry has lived in Largo all his life. He claims to be a simple man who enjoys trapping and eating raccoons.
"They are good, hundreds of others around here will tell you the same thing," Perry said.
He usually has about 10 dogs on his property because he enjoys raising them. Deputies believe Perry has much different motives for his dogs.
"I'm not a mean person, I'm just an old country boy. I do fishing, hunting and trapping," he said.
A video posted on his family member's Facebook page shows Perry opening a raccoon cage for a pit bull. The two animals attack each other for about three minutes.
"You train them that way. They don't hurt each other, you stop it," Perry said.
Perry said he trains his dog to catch any raccoons who may try escaping his property. Investigators didn't buy his story and charged Perry with an animal abuse charge.
Damien Ja- Bree Haynes was filming the fight and posted it to social media. Haynes was also arrested.
The video didn't show the entire battle. Perry said the raccoon survived the fight.
"He went up into the tree," Perry said.
