LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WKRC) – A woman was arrested after she allegedly suffocated a dog using a trash bag.
According to WINK, 49-year-old Colleen Rae Talley was taken into custody after she allegedly suffocated a dog with a trash bag.
Per the report, a family member called law enforcement to have officers check on a dog they believed had been killed. After arriving on the scene, investigators with the animal cruelty task force obtained a search warrant and later discovered disturbed soil and the deceased dog beneath it.
WFLA reported that the suspect told authorities that her “puppy” had just died.
“She decided that she wanted to take a garbage bag, put it over the dog’s head, and she strangled her dog to death. It’s infuriating. It’s not going to be tolerated,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told reporters with WINK.
Neighbors speaking with WINK’s reporters said they were shocked to learn of the dog’s death, with one woman telling the outlet that the suspect had recently been released from jail after she was reportedly arrested in October in a domestic violence case.
“It’s absolutely disgusting and heartbreaking at the same time. As you said, I’ve seen the dog multiple times. I know the owner. She was a cane corso, a big, big dog breed,” a neighbor told the station. “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.”
The neighbor told reporters with WINK that the suspect’s family were good people in a difficult situation.
“The husband is really nice. The daughter is very sweet. The son is a very good kid. They’re just genuinely good people. I think that her situation is completely isolated,” the outlet reported.
According to WFLA, the dog was taken to the Lee County Domestic Animal Services for further examination.
Talley was arrested and charged with the following, per the reports:
Aggravated animal cruelty (felony)
The suspect was taken to the Lee County Jail and held on a $5,000 bond, per WINK.
The sheriff’s office stated there is “no tolerance” for animal abuse in Lee County.