LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) — A Lee County woman was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty after authorities say she killed her dog.

Lee County deputies arrested 49-year-old Colleen Rae Talley following an investigation that began on Wednesday. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said a family member called authorities asking them to check on the dog, believing it had been killed.

Arrest video of Colleen Talley. Courtesy: Lee County Sheriff’s Office


Investigators with the LCSO Animal Cruelty Task Force responded and later obtained a search warrant for the home on Lemon Road. Detectives said they found a freshly dug grave in the backyard where the dog had been buried.

“She decided that she wanted to take a garbage bag, put it over the dog’s head and she strangled her dog to death,” Marceno said. “It’s infuriating. It’s not gonna be tolerated.”

Talley is now facing a felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty. Neighbors say they were shocked to learn what the sheriff says happened.

“It’s absolutely disgusting and heartbreaking at the same time,” neighbor Amber Welsh said. “As you said, I’ve seen the dog multiple times. I know the owner. She was a cane corso, big, big dog breed.”

Welsh also says Talley’s history makes this case even more disturbing. Court documents show Talley was also arrested in October for a domestic violence case.

“She was recently just released from jail, so I just kind of think that, um, it was kind of building up to this moment,” Welsh said.

Talley bonded out in January. Welsh says the incident raises serious concerns about what someone capable of such an act might do.

“If you can do something like that to something so innocent that literally looks up to you as its whole world, I feel like you’d be capable of just about anything,” Welsh said.

Welsh says she hopes the family can move forward from this. She described Talley’s children as good people caught in a difficult situation.

“The husband is really nice…the daughter is very sweet. The son is a very good kid,” Welsh said. “They’re just genuinely good people. I think that her situation is completely isolated.”

Talley remains in the Lee County Jail. WINK News attempted to speak with her husband at the home in San Carlos Park, but he did not want to talk.

Talley was charged with aggravated animal cruelty, a felony under Florida law. Marceno called the case disturbing and said the sheriff’s office has “zero tolerance” for animal abuse in Lee County.

Talley was booked into the Lee County Jail on a $5,000 bond.