Florida: Shavon Montgomery charged with animal cruelty after puppy found injured

FLORIDA -- A woman with a lengthy criminal history is facing an animal cruelty charge after Manatee County Animal Services officials say they found a puppy tethered in yard that was suffering from a skin infection and heat stress.

Shavon Montgomery, 36, was arrested Wednesday and charged with one felony count of animal cruelty stemming from an incident in July.

On July 20, Manatee County Animal Services officers responded to a home in the 6200 block of 11th Street East in Bradenton after a caller reported what appeared to be an abandoned puppy. When the officers arrived, they found a small pitbull-type puppy in the middle of a yard of a chain-link fenced yard.

“The puppy had no access to shelter or water and was in direct sun,” one officer noted in a report. “The puppy was panting heavily and whimpering.”

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office was called out to assist and neighbors cautioned the officers about the residents of the home, both officers wrote in their reports.

But as the officers waited for deputies to arrive, the puppy continued panting, pacing, whining and then fell over to it’s side. That was when one officer went into the yard while the other stood guard and then the puppy was immediately taken to Bradenton Veterinary Emergency.

The puppy was hot to the touch, the officer noted. When the puppy arrived at the emergency room, its temperature was taken and read 109.9 degrees. The puppy was given water and drank for a minute and a half without stopping.

Edema was visible on the puppy’s back and it was left at Bradenton Veterinary Emergency to be evaluated and treated. A veterinarian determined that the puppy was dehydrated, had heat stress, hookworm, edema and pyoderma, which is a skin infection.

Montgomery contacted Animal Services initially asking why her dog had been confiscated, according the reports. But when the officer called her back to explain the reasoning and described the dog, she said it wasn’t hers but her cousin’s.

The animal services officer stated that the Montgomery admitted to knowing the dog had been tied up for at least two days.

The case was later forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office, at the prosecutor’s request during a meeting where it was discussed, to review and determine if charges were warranted.

In May, Montgomery was released from a Florida prison after serving five years and six months for a 2010 conviction of trafficking more than 28 grams of oxycodone.

Montgomery’s criminal history also includes convictions for 12 counts of uttering a forged instrument, seven counts of grand theft and armed robbery with a weapon not deadly.

ARREST INFORMATION:
Full Name: Shavon L Montgomery
Gender: Female
Birthdate: 12/30/1979
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 245 lbs
Hair Color: BLK
Eye Color: BLK
Date:11/30/2016
Total Bond: $5,000
Personal Information
Arrest Age:36
Arresting agency: Manatee County, FL
Charge:

• TORTURE ANIMAL W/INTENT. STATUTE: 828.12-2. BOND: $5000
• NOTES: TORTURE ANIMAL W/INTENT / CAPIAS

(Bradenton Herald - Dec 1, 2016)