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Florida man arrested after allegedly killing iguana: 'Excessively and repeatedly inflicted pain and suffering'

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Published  July 23, 2025 9:58am EDT
Florida
FOX 35 Orlando

The Brief

    • A Florida man allegedly recently allowed his dog to chase an iguana before he then brutally killed it himself.
    • Dennis Joseph Maguire, 54, is facing more than half a dozen charges after police say he intentionally committed aggravated animal cruelty.
    • Maguire was given a $5,000 bond and appears to have already posted it.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A Florida man has been arrested on more than half a dozen animal cruelty charges after he allegedly allowed his dog to chase an iguana before then brutally killing it himself. 

What we know:

Dennis Joseph Maguire, 54, is facing more than half a dozen charges after police say he intentionally committed aggravated animal cruelty.

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department (FLPD) said they responded to the incident around 6 p.m. Friday, July 18, on Fort Lauderdale Beach after receiving reports from two witnesses.

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The first witness said they saw Maguire pick up an iguana's body by its tail and slam it into the grass, the sidewalk and a rock before then stomping on it and walking away. The second witness said they also saw the iguana being slammed. 

Maguire admitted to officers that while he was out on a walk, he unclipped his dog's leash and allowed it to pursue and attack the iguana. He said he then took the iguana and hit it against a rock to finish killing it. 

Maguire said he left the iguana on the sidewalk and went home, but he later returned to the scene of the incident to throw the reptile's body away, because he "didn't want tourists to see the dead body."

(Credit: Broward County Jail) 

Maguire said this is the same manner in which he usually kills iguanas in his backyard. 

"No good deed goes unpunished," Maguire said to police. 

Officials said the manner of killing that Maguire chose allowed the iguana to "experience pain and suffering resulting in a cruel death." Police said Maguire "excessively and repeatedly inflicted pain and suffering."

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) provides a list of ways that iguanas can be killed, and Maguire's manner is not one mentioned on the list. 

Maguire is being charged with seven counts of aggravated animal cruelty. 

Maguire was given a $5,000 bond and appears to have posted it, as he did not show up in the Broward Sheriff’s Office jail records on Wednesday. 

The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department (FLPD).

FloridaNewsCrime and Public Safety