The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have launched an investigation into allegations defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches abandoned his Cane Corso on the side of a busy road, where it sat for 36 hours.
An animal rescue group found the dog on December 8, whose name is Jitterbug -- sitting on a Florida road tired, hungry and alone. The dog was also missing some teeth.
Turns out Nunez-Roches is also a dog breeder. In case you're unfamiliar, Cane Corso's are a form of pit bull.
The animal rescue group took Jitterbug to a shelter and an official there says they contacted Nunez-Roches to say they had his dog. The official said, "He had responded back that he would pick her up on Sunday, which I thought was odd because they played Detroit on Sunday and they had a 4:25 game, so how would he get back in time to pick her up at 7? Was football more important?" He never picked up his dog.
The dog remains in the shelter and she's been pre-adopted.
The Buccaneers said, "We are aware of the issue regarding Rakeem Nunez-Roches and are in the process of gathering additional information. We will refrain from further comment until we have a better understanding of the situation."