Days of the odor persisted, the neighbor found a large Great Dane decomposing on the floor of the living room. The scene was ghastly as the dog was said to be reduced to a pool of liquid, and covered by maggots.
The renter of the home Alyssa Anderson is now behind bars on charges of felony animal abuse for leaving the dog inside and unattended for nearly two weeks.
"It appears she left the dog alone with no water or food for 11 days, and clearly the animal succumbed to starvation," said St. Pete Police spokesman Mike Puetz.
Neighbors said Anderson would come and go for days on end, and they would hear the dog barking incessantly at all hours of the day and night.
Over the past week, again, they heard the barking, but in the later days, the barks changed to yelps in what were its last, desperate cries for help. And then the barking stopped.
"I'm disturbed by it- seriously disturbed. I mean, it was a horrible thing to do," said neighbor Sharon Warden.
"This was a horrible situation that this dog suffered in agony," said Puetz.
Anderson remains in the Pinellas County jail on a $5,000 bond.
(WTSP - June 18, 2013)
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