Dog starved to death Green Cove Springs, FL (US) Incident Date: Tuesday, Jan 4, 2000 County: Clay Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Cynthia Diana Brown

Case ID: 3295 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in FL (US) Login to Watch this Case

A Green Cove Springs woman was arrested Tuesday after police removed the emaciated body of a dog that had starved to death in a shed behind her home.

Cynthia Diana Brown, 35, was charged with animal cruelty, a misdemeanor. The arrest stemmed from an anonymous complaint to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

The dog, a Siberian husky named Casey, was barely breathing when Deputy Denny Mills and Animal Control Officer Debrann Brooks went to Brown's home on Jan 4 in the 5000 block of U.S. 17 south of Green Cove Springs.

"I viewed what appeared to be a dead dog," Brooks said in her report. "As I knelt down I viewed that the dog was still breathing ... (and) was in desperate need of immediate vet care. I was able to see the entire skeletal frame of the dog."

A subsequent examination by veterinarian D.L. McKee at Green Cove Animal Hospital determined that Casey's survival chances were virtually nil due to the probability of severe organ damage as a result of starvation.

McKee estimated a normal weight for Casey should have been 45 to 50 pounds, not the 24 pounds she weighed when she died. In his report, he said there was no fat layer and little if any muscle mass on the dog's body.

Brown could not be reached for comment.

Laura Strickland, an animal welfare activist in Clay County, said Casey was a victim of "one of the worst animal cruelty cases I've ever seen."

"I rehabilitate abused animals and I have brought in some animals that have been close to death," said Strickland, president of Animal Rights Coalition in Orange Park. "This animal took a long time to die. She looked dead, but was still breathing."

Brooks stated in her report that another dog and a pot-bellied pig at the same address, where Brown resides with another couple, appeared to be in good health and well fed. But water and food bowls for those animals were not within Casey's reach.

According to the animal control officer's report, Brown said that when she went out of town on Dec 31 Casey was healthy, but when she returned on Jan 3 the dog had "lost weight."

Strickland said there's no way a dog could have gone from healthy to near-death in three days. She said she plans to monitor the case closely and will ask prosecutors to seek jail time for Brown.

"This animal suffered horribly for a long period of time," Strickland said. "She (Brown) absolutely should do jail time. That would serve as an example to the community that this type of animal cruelty will not be permitted."

Meanwhile, Casey's body has been tagged as evidence in the case and lies in a plastic bag in a freezer at the county's animal control center near Penney Farms.

"After the body is released, I'm going to bury Casey on my property," said Strickland, who lives in a rural area of Doctors Inlet." It would give some dignity to Casey in her death that she didn't have in life."

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References

Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville - Jan 20, 2000

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