A Florida dog trainer with thousands of TikTok followers is facing abuse charges after she was caught choking and kicking animals.
Blessing Knighten, 21, was arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail Thursday after another dog trainer came forward with several videos of her pets abusing pets.
In one of the videos described in a police report, Knighten is seen choking a dog for 15 to 20 seconds while the animal’s legs lift off the ground and it screams in pain.
The woman has since been charged with five counts of animal cruelty, with officials saying they look forward to bringing her to justice.
“Cruelty to animals has no place in our society and we will see it caught every time we can,” said Dave Walesky of Palm Beach Animal Care and Control. WPTV.
In Florida, a misdemeanor of animal cruelty in the first degree carries a penalty of up to 365 days in prison and fines of up to $5,000.
A Florida dog trainer with thousands of TikTok followers is facing abuse charges after she was caught choking and kicking animals.
Blessing Knighten, 21, was arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail Thursday after another dog trainer came forward with multiple videos of her pets abusing pets.
Wilsky told the Florida outlet that they are working with the US Attorney’s office on this and other animal cruelty cases in the area.
“Palm Beach County has zero tolerance for animal cruelty, and we are very grateful for those partnerships with the state attorney general’s office and also with the sheriff’s office and all of the other police departments,” said Wilsky.
Investigators were first called in mid-March by Steve Cabral, owner of Fine Line Family K-9.
Cabral filed complaints against Knighten and another former coach who later transferred to Michigan and whose name has not been released.
In Knighten’s videos, the woman can be seen with a Belgian Malinois and a black German Shepherd.
“He showed me video of Blessing Knighten choking a German Shepherd over what Cabral described as a bite box,” reads the arrest report obtained by WPTV.
The front legs of the dog were off the ground. Then she walks the dog and the dog appears to be limp and in distress. Then she hooked the dog back on the bite box. He’s struggling, and you can hear the dog yelp.
Fine Line Family K-9 owner said Knighten was fired after just two months.
Investigators were first called in mid-March by Steve Cabral, owner of Fine Line Family K-9
Knighten in a video posted to TikTok. The dog trainer has nearly 5,000 followers on the app
Knighten reportedly told police that Cabral was the one who ordered her to mistreat the dogs.
In the arrest report, the detective said: ‘You stated that if a dog bites, you hold the dog off the leash and they have to do what they’re told or they’ll be kicked out. Mrs. Knighten mentioned that she had a problem with him and how he treated dogs.
‘Mr. Cabral told her that if she had a problem with it, he would show them the videos.
I confirmed that there is a video. I asked her if she was using his methods and she said ‘yes’ at first, because she was in a bad position at the time,” the report reads.
The woman told the investigator that she also believes Cabral’s work is widespread animal abuse.
She said standard practices included “not feeding the dogs”, “pulling cranks” and not buying food.
“The dogs were very, very skinny,” she told the investigator.
Investigators doubted her story and described the situation vividly.
“Blessing Knight repeatedly abused two dogs and defined it as training. This is a clear case of animal abuse causing both mental and physical pain,” the report reads.
Knighten reportedly told police that Cabral was the one who ordered her to abuse dogs
“Blessing Knight repeatedly abused two dogs and defined it as training. This is a clear case of animal abuse causing mental and physical pain,” the police report states.
To make matters worse for the former dog trainer, over the weekend she was arrested again for allegedly stealing $4,213.53 in items from work.
To make matters worse for the former dog trainer, over the weekend she was arrested again for allegedly stealing $4,213.53 in items from work.
According to local outlets, Knighten was taken to the Palm Beach County Jail at 4.25am on Saturday with two criminal charges of burglary and grand theft of less than $5,000.
Knighten denied having committed the crimes, but police said they found several K-9 training materials “in plain sight.”
The woman was later released on bail.
Knighten is expected to have his next court date on May 22.
