DUNNELLON (AP)
A Florida man fatally poisoned a minimum of three cats and one dog in his neighborhood, police stated.
The 36-year-old man was arrested Wednesday following a monthlong investigation, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office news launch stated. He faces 4 counts of aggravated animal cruelty.
Deputies first responded to the Dunnellon neighborhood early final month after a resident reported that their cat had presumably been poisoned, officers stated. The feline had been sick and seizing, prompting its homeowners to take the animal to a veterinarian. The cat ultimately died, and the proprietor informed deputies their dog had died following comparable signs in October. During the investigation, a neighbor informed deputies that 5 of their cats had additionally died experiencing comparable signs.
The sheriff’s workplace contacted the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine for assist, officers stated. The faculty is positioned in Gainesville, which is about 45 miles north of Dunnellon. After exhuming a number of pets, a physician on the faculty decided that three cats and one dog had all died from antifreeze poisoning.
A neighbor informed deputies a few man within the space who had claimed he was poisoning cats to stop them from killing his chickens, an official stated. When deputies executed a search warrant on the man’s residence, they reported discovering three containers of antifreeze, a number of cans of tuna and fish-flavored rat poison.
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