LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A woman who needed to surrender her dog threw the canine over a fence at an animal shelter instead of waiting for staff to arrive so she could turn over the pet, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said Danielle Carreon, 31, went to Lake County Animal Services on Wednesday but when she saw it was closed, she called the county and explained to an operator that she was homeless and needed to surrender her small dog.
The operator said Carreon would need to return in the morning when the shelter was open. Around 7 p.m., an animal enforcement officer called Carreon to find out what she'd done with the dog and she claimed that she found a home for the dog and no longer needed to surrender her, according to the affidavit.
The animal control officer went to the shelter and found a small dog just as she was escaping from a fence and running away from the facility. Deputies said Carreon refused to come get the dog so the animal control officer caught her, the report said.
Deputies said when the dog was captured, it was obvious that she had significant damage to her hind legs. A veterinarian who saw the dog via video chat said the animal would likely need surgery for her injuries.
Carreon was taken into custody in Mascotte and admitted that she threw the dog over a 6-foot chain link fence, claiming that the operator told her to do it, even though that wasn't the case, according to the affidavit.
After she was arrested, Carreon offered several excuses for the dog's injuries saying that her foot was already broken before the incident and that her hips were separated at birth, records show.
She was arrested on an aggravated animal cruelty charge.