| Probable cause affidavit: |
SUBMITTED BY: EICHHORN, CAROLINE 1365 (15-128393) (AR15-16640) did unlawfully and unnecessarily overload, overdrive, torture, torment, deprive of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily or cruelly beat, mutilate, or kill any animal or cause the same to be done, in that HE/SHE did NEGLECT TO PROVIDE VETERINARY CARE FOR SIX DOMESTIC SHORT HAIRED CATS, ALL SIX WERE FOUND TO BE IN DISTRESS AT THE TIME OF LAW ENFORCEMENT'S ARRIVAL, in violation of Florida Statute 828.12. ON 093015, AT APPROXIMATELY 0914 HOURS, I WAS DISPATCHED TO 4772 NORTH REDWOOD LANE, IN HERNANDO, IN REFERENCE TO A CASE OF ANIMAL CRUELTY. UPON ARRIVAL WITH ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER LAURA PECKHAM, ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER TINA ANDES, A CITRUS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE HAZMAT UNIT AND I WE MADE CONTACT WITH THE DEFENDANTS, MR WAYNE DENNIS AND MS DIANE DENNIS, WHO ARE SIBLINGS. THE BOTTOM OF THE DEFENDANTS' SHOES HAD A LARGE AMOUNT OF FECES ON THEM. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS HAD A LARGE AMOUNT OF FECES ATTACHED TO the BOTTOM OF HER WALKING CANE. WHEN THE DOOR WAS OPENED A STRONG ODOR OF CAT FECES AND URINE EMITTED FROM THE DOOR. ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM STARTED QUESTIONING the DEFENDANTS AS TO THE NUMBER OF ANIMALS THAT WERE LIVING INSIDE THE RESIDENCE AS WELL AS THE LEVEL OF CARE THAT WAS BEING PROVIDED FOR the ANIMALS. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS, STATED THERE WERE APPROXIMATELY 43 CATS INSIDE THE RESIDENCE AND ADMITTED THAT OF the CATS HAD RECEIVED RABIES VACCINATIONS OR REGULAR VETERINARY APPOINTMENTS IN THE THREE MONTHS THEY HAD LIVED IN HERNANDO. THE DEFENDANTS MOVED FROM WEIRSDALE IN MARION COUNTY TO THE RESIDENCE IN HERNANDO ON 070415. WHEN THEY MOVED THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM APPROXIMATELY 40 CATS. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS STATED THAT SHE WAS UNDER the IMPRESSION THAT SHE ONLY OWNED 20 CATS AT THAT TIME, BUT NOW REALIZES THAT IT WAS TWICE THAT. ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM ASKED DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS IF SHE HAD ANY CATS THAT HAD RECENTLY PASSED AWAY AND SHE STATED THAT APPROXIMATELY ONE WEEK AGO, SHE HAD TAKEN TWO CATS TO COUNTRYSIDE ANIMAL HOSPITAL LOCATED IN BEVERLY HILLS FOR the TREATMENT OF FLEAS. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS STATED THAT WHILE EN ROUTE TO THE ANIMAL HOSPITAL ONE CAT DIED AND THE OTHER HAD TO BE EUTHANIZED DUE TO EXTREME ANEMIA. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS ALSO STATED THAT ON 093015 AT APPROXIMATELY 0700 HOURS, SHE HELD A CAT WHILE IT PASSED AWAY IN HER BED. WHEN ASKED WHERE THE CAT THAT PASSED AWAY ON TODAY DATE WAS CURRENTLY LOCATED, SHE SAID IT WAS STILL IN HER BED. ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM INFORMED THE DEFENDANTS THAT ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICERS WOULD NEED TO ENTER THE RESIDENCE TO INVESTIGATE THE LIVING CONDITIONS AS WELL AS HEALTH CONDITIONS FOR THE CATS. THE DEFENDANTS WERE COOPERATIVE and ALLOWED ENTRY INTO THE RESIDENCE. THE CITRUS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE HAZMAT UNIT PUT ON PROTECTIVE CLOTHING, MADE ENTRY INTO the HOME TO TEST THE LEVELS OF AMMONIA FOR SAFETY. THE HAZMAT TEAM THEN PLACED FANS IN MULTIPLE WINDOWS OF the HOME IN AN ATTEMPT TO AERATE THE RESIDENCE. HAZMAT UNITS CONCLUDED THAT THE HOME WAS SAFE TO BE ENTERED AT THIS TIME. ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM, ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER ANDES, AND I PLACED PROTECTIVE GEAR OVER OUR BOOTS AND CLOTHING DUE TO THE REPORTEDLY HIGH NUMBER OF FLEAS and FECES INSIDE THE RESIDENCE. ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM, ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER ANDES, THE DEFENDANTS AND I ENTERED THE HOME. THE ODOR OF URINE AND FECES IN THE RESIDENCE WAS SO STRONG IT MADE IT DIFFICULT TO BREATH. IN THE LIVING ROOM AREA OF THE HOME, THERE WAS LITTLE TO NO FURNITURE, HOWEVER, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF CARDBOARD BOXES STACKED IN VARIOUS PLACES. THERE WAS A HIGH AMOUNT OF CAT FECES IN VARIOUS AREAS OF THE CARPETING AS WELL AS SEVERAL OF THE BOXES. DEFENDANT MR WAYNE DENNIS STATED HE HAD SPENT THE MAJORITY OF THE EVENING REMOVING PILES OF CAT FECES FROM THE CARPETED AREA OF THE LIVING ROOM. I ENTERED THE KITCHEN AREA OF the HOME AND OBSERVED AN UNKNOWN NUMBER OF CATS RUNNING AND HIDING IN VARIOUS PLACES IN THE KITCHEN. the KITCHEN WAS LITTERED WITH HOUSEHOLD GARBAGE AS WELL AS HIGH AMOUNTS OF CAT FECES IN VARIOUS PLACES INCLUDING BOXES, THE FLOOR AND COUNTERS. I OBSERVED A LARGE CAT LITTER BOX THAT WAS SO COMPLETELY FULL OF CAT FECES THAT IT WAS OVER FLOWING. AS I WALKED THROUGH THE KITCHEN TOWARDS THE HALLWAY TO THE MASTER BATHROOM, THERE WAS A LARGE MULTICOLORED CAT SITTING ON THE ISLAND IN THE KITCHEN. THE CAT HAD WHAT APPEARED TO BE A LARGE WOUND to the LEFT SIDE OF ITS NECK. WHEN DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS WAS QUESTIONED IF THE CAT HAD RECEIVED MEDICAL ATTENTION, SHE STATED THAT IT HAD NOT. SHE STATED THE CAT HAD RECEIVED THE WOUND FROM FIGHTING WITH ANOTHER CAT INSIDE THE HOME AND SHE FELT IT WAS HEALING WITHOUT ANY ISSUES. I BEGAN TO FEEL DIZZY AND SICK TO MY STOMACH AND EXITED THE RESIDENCE THROUGH the FRONT DOOR. APPROXIMATELY TEN MINUTES LATER, ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM, ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER ANDES AND THE DEFENDANTS EXITED THE RESIDENCE THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR. THE DEFENDANTS WERE ADVISED BY ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM THAT ALL OF the CATS WOULD BE SEIZED BY ANIMAL CONTROL DUE TO THEIR INABILITY TO PROVIDE MEDICAL CARE AS WELL AS THE LARGE AMOUNT OF FECES AND URINE THROUGHOUT the HOME. the DEFENDANTS ASKED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT AND IF they WOULD BE ALLOWED TO KEEP ANY OF THE CATS. ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM EXPLAINED TO THEM THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE UP TO THE STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AS WELL AS THE JUDGE THAT WOULD OVERSEE THEIR CASE. WE BEGAN TO TAKE INTO CUSTODY THE 42 ANIMALS THAT WERE FOUND LIVING INSIDE THE HOME. THE DEFENDANTS OFFERED TO HELP CRATE SOME OF the CATS. WHILE DOING SO, ONE OF the CATS BIT AND SCRATCHED DEFENDANT MR WAYNE DENNIS AND ANOTHER CAT BIT ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER ANDES. THEY BOTH RECEIVED MINIMAL FIRST AID CARE WHILE ON SCENE. WHILE INSIDE THE RESIDENCE AND TAKING POSSESSION OF the CATS, ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER ANDES FOUND AN ORANGE TABBY CAT THAT HAD DIED UNDER A CABINET AND BROUGHT IT OUTSIDE. the CAT WAS IN FULL RIGOR MORTIS WHEN SHE BROUGHT IT OUT INDICATING THAT IT HAD BEEN DEAD FOR A NUMBER OF HOURS. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS STATED SHE HAD NO IDEA THE CAT HAD DIED OR WHICH CAT IT WAS. ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER ANDES SPRAYED THE DEAD CAT WITH FLEA SPRAY DUE TO THE HIGH NUMBER OF FLEAS ON THE CAT. WHEN ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER ANDES SPRAYED THE CAT, I OBSERVED HUNDREDS OF FLEAS MOVING IN THE CAT'S FUR ATTEMPTING TO GET AWAY FROM THE SPRAY. APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES LATER ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER ANDES BROUGHT OUT ANOTHER ORANGE TABBY CAT THAT HAD DIED. THE SECOND ONE WAS LOCATED INSIDE the MASTER BEDROOM ON DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS' BED. WHEN EACH OF THE LIVING CATS WERE REMOVED FROM THE HOUSE, THEY WERE GIVEN A VISUAL EVALUATION BY ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM AND SHE DETERMINED THAT SIX OF THE 42 CATS WERE IN IMMEDIATE NEED OF VETERINARY CARE AND WERE TRANSPORTED TO COUNTRYSIDE ANIMAL HOSPITAL IN BEVERLY HILLS. TWO OF the CATS WERE TRANSPORTED DUE TO AN UNKNOWN EYE CONDITION THAT LEFT THEIR EYES CRUSTY AND RUNNY, TWO OF THE CATS WERE TRANSPORTED DUE TO DIFFICULTIES BREATHING, ONE WAS TRANSPORTED DUE TO A HIGH LEVEL OF ANEMIA DUE TO FLEA INFESTATION AND ONE CAT WAS TRANSPORTED FOR A LARGE WOUND TO THE LEFT SIDE OF ITS NECK. WHEN DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS WAS QUESTIONED AS TO THE BREATHING DIFFICULTIES THAT SOME OF THE SEIZED CATS WERE EXPERIENCING, SHE STATED THAT THEY SUFFERED FROM CHRONIC SINUSITIS AND HAD SEEN A VETERINARIAN AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER. ALL 42 LIVING CATS that WERE SEIZED APPEARED TO BE OVER A YEAR OLD. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS STATED THAT APPROXIMATELY EIGHT FEMALE CATS WERE SPAYED; ELEVEN MALE CATS HAD BEEN NEUTERED, LEAVING A TOTAL OF 17 FEMALES WHO HAD NOT BEEN SPAYED AND FIVE MALES THAT WERE STILL INTACT. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS STATED SHE TRIED TO KEEP THE FIVE MALE CATS THAT WERE STILL INTACT IN A SEPARATE ROOM AWAY FROM THE 17 FEMALE CATS THAT HAD NOT BEEN SPAYED. WHILE IN THE PROCESS OF SEIZING the CATS DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS STATED THAT ONE OF the ORANGE TABBY CATS THAT HAD PASSED AWAY THAT MORNING HAD BEEN ''ARGUING WITH ONE OF THE OTHER SICK CATS THAT HAD BEEN SEIZED ABOUT WHO WAS GOING TO DIE FIRST''. I ASKED THE DEFENDANTS IF THEY COULD SMELL THE HIGH AMOUNT OF FECES AND URINE IN THE HOME AND THEY BOTH STATED THEY DID NOT SMELL ANYTHING INSIDE THE HOME and THAT the INTERIOR OF the HOME WAS A LITTLE ''MESSY.'' DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS THEN BEGAN TO QUESTION THE ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICERS AS TO HOW MANY OF the CATS THEY WERE GOING TO BE ABLE TO KEEP AND ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM STATED THAT SHE COULD NOT ADVISE ON A DEFINITE NUMBER BUT IT WOULD BE UP TO THE STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE. THE DEFENDANTS STATED THEY WOULD LIKE TO KEEP AT LEAST TEN CATS ONCE THE INVESTIGATION HAD CONCLUDED. ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER PECKHAM STATED THAT DUE TO THEIR FINANCIAL SITUATION KEEPING A HIGH NUMBER OF CATS WAS HIGHLY UNLIKELY AND REQUESTED THAT THEY RETHINK THAT REQUEST AND COME UP WITH A MORE REALISTIC NUMBER. THE DEFENDANTS THEN DECIDED ON FOUR CATS THAT THEY REQUESTED TO KEEP ONCE THE INVESTIGATION HAD CONCLUDED. AT APPROXIMATELY 1600 HOURS, 36 CATS HAD BEEN TAKEN INTO CUSTODY BY ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICERS AND TRANSPORTED TO THE CITRUS COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER. DEPUTY CUTLIP 0721 RESPONDED ON SCENE TO PROCESS THE SCENE, SEE HIS CRIME SCENE TECHNICIAN REPORT. WHEN DEPUTY CUTLIP COMPLETED PROCESSING THE SCENE, I REVIEWED THE PHOTOGRAPHS THAT WERE TAKEN AND OBSERVED PHOTOGRAPHS OF the MASTER BATHROOM WHICH SHOWED A LARGE GARDEN TUB THAT CONTAINED APPROXIMATELY SIX INCHES OF FECES IN THE BOTTOM OF the TUB AS WELL AS SEVERAL INCHES OF FECES IN THE SHOWER STALL AND FLOOR. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS WAS INFORMED SHE WAS BEING PLACED UNDER ARREST FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY, HANDCUFFED, IN FRONT DUE TO MEDICAL CONDITIONS, (DOUBLE LOCKED), AND SECURED IN THE REAR OF MY PATROL VEHICLE. I READ DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS HER MIRANDA WARNING VIA AGENCY PREPRINTED CARD. the DEFENDANT ADVISED THAT SHE UNDERSTOOD HER RIGHTS and STATED THAT SHE WOULD SPEAK WITH ME AT THIS TIME. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS ADVISED ME ON THE WAY TO THE CITRUS COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY THAT THE CATS WERE ALL FED DOG FOOD AND TREATED WITH K-9 ADVANTAGE FLEA CONTROL MEDICINE. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS ADVISED SHE PURCHASES THE LARGE BREED FLEA CONTROL AND APPLIES A SMALL AMOUNT TO EACH OF HER CATS. DEFENDANT MS DIANE DENNIS STATED SHE WAS TOLD TO TREAT THE FLEAS WITH K-9 FLEA MEDICINE BY A VETERINARIAN. DEFENDANT MR WAYNE DENNIS WAS INFORMED HE WAS BEING PLACED UNDER ARREST FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY, HANDCUFFED, BEHIND HIS BACK, (DOUBLE LOCKED), AND SECURED IN THE REAR OF DEPUTY CUTLIP'S PATROL VEHICLE. DEPUTY CUTLIP READ DEFENDANT MR WAYNE DENNIS HIS MIRANDA WARNING VIA AGENCY PREPRINTED CARD. the DEFENDANT ADVISED THAT HE UNDERSTOOD HIS RIGHTS and STATED THAT HE WOULD SPEAK WITH ME AT THIS TIME. THE RESIDENCE WAS THEN SECURED AND BOTH DEFENDANTS WERE TRANSPORTED TO THE CITRUS COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY FOR BOOKING AND PROCESSING. the DEFENDANTS WERE EACH CHARGED WITH SIX COUNTS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY WITH A BOND OF $6,000.00, PER THE BOND SCHEDULE. . THIS INVESTIGATION IS OPEN AND ONGOING. |
