WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (WSVN) — Deputies in Central Florida have arrested a woman accused of throwing her dog in the trash and leaving her pet to die.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said two people heard noises coming from a dumpster near an apartment complex in Winter Haven on Saturday. One of the people went in and found a sealed trash bag with a dead 4-year-old Chihuahua wearing a pink collar inside.
Animal Control officers scanned for a microchip and found a registration for 41-year-old Shawkimo Anderson.
Anderson initially told deputies she’d given the dog, named Diamond, away to another woman two months ago.
But investigators said she later changed her story and admitted to sealing the dog in a trash bag and throwing her into the dumpster, saying she could no longer afford to care for the dog.
“I don’t know how anyone could do this to a pet,” said Sheriff Grady Judd in a statement. “This woman stuffed an innocent creature into a bag and left it to die when all she had to do was give it to someone or surrender it to Animal Control, no questions asked. Because of her selfish action, the dog has now passed away. I commend the people who did their best to try and save her.”
The sheriff’s office said a necropsy will be done to determine the exact cause of death.
Anderson has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty and has since been released from jail on a $1,000 bond.
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