‘Worried’ woman takes dog to dog park and pepper-sprays other pets, FL cops say

A morning trip to the dog park turned harrowing for a group of animal lovers when one woman began using pepper spray on pets that strayed too close to her dog, according to investigators.

It happened around 8:45 a.m. Saturday, April 12, at the Rotary Park Dog Park in Cape Coral, and “multiple dogs” were doused, Cape Coral police said.

“Officers arrived at the park and talked to a witness, who pointed out the woman who had sprayed multiple dogs within the confines of the park,” police reported in an April 16 news release.

“She walked around the outside of the fence, and when a dog within the park (contained by the fence) approached her and her dog, she would spray some kind of chemical at the dog.”

One dog took a direct hit to the eyes and was seen “yelping, crying, and trying to rub its eyes in the dirt,” witnesses told police.

Investigators identified the suspect as 67-year-old Charlene Tedesco and she is alleged to have “sprayed multiple other dogs on other occasions,” police said.

“Tedesco told officers she sprays the dogs’ feet with pepper spray because she’s worried they’ll attack her. She said she does not enter the fenced-in dog park but walks around the outside of it,” police said.

“Officers determined Tedesco drove to the dog park, approached the fenced-in area, was never in danger due to there being a barrier (fence) between her and the dogs playing within the park, and utilized pepper spray on the dogs, causing them torment.”

Tedesco was charged with one count of animal cruelty and “issued a trespass warning and told she could not return to the park,” police said.

Cape Coral is about a 130-mile drive south from Tampa.

This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 8:07 AM with the headline "‘Worried’ woman takes dog to dog park and pepper-sprays other pets, FL cops say."