Florida woman arrested after stealing 6-week-old puppy, abandoning him in the woods, sheriff says
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida woman was arrested Monday after deputies said she stole a 6-week-old puppy and abandoned him in the woods.
The St. Lucie Sheriff’s Office said surveillance video showed 44-year-old Onicia Marie Prince abandoning the American Bull Dog puppy, named G-Knight, next to a doctor’s office parking lot in Port St. Lucie on New Year’s Eve.
Detectives said they found G-Knight in a dog carrier in a wooded area three days after his owner reported the puppy missing.
The sheriff’s office said G-Knight died six hours after he was returned to his owner. Deputies said the puppy was dehydrated and malnourished.
“This was a 6-week-old puppy who didn’t do anything to anybody and spent the last three days of its life alone by itself with no food, with no water,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said.
According to the sheriff’s office, the owners and Prince knew each other and the theft stemmed from a “relationship issue” between them.
Prince was taken to the St. Lucie County Jail on two counts of torture inflicting pain with serious physical injury or death to an animal, abandoning an animal, theft of an animal and burglary of a conveyance.
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