US man held for chopping puppy, cooking its ribs

Washington: A man in the US state of Florida has been arrested for allegedly strangling a family puppy, chopping it into pieces and cooking its ribs on a stove, police said.

Thomas Elliot Huggins, 25, was arrested earlier this week after a family member called police in Tampa, a media report said on Sunday.

When police arrived, they found the dog's ribs cooked in a pot on the stove. The dog's head was in the garbage.

Huggins had strangled the around six-month-old puppy and chopped it into quarters, and even stored pieces in the freezer for future meals, officials said. He was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty.