A Weeki Wachee woman faces animal cruelty charges after several dead dogs were removed from her abandoned home, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.
A news release said that Lauren Kopp, 35, was arrested Saturday on four counts of animal cruelty.
A neighbor said a group of construction workers who were working in the area noticed a dead dog inside the home. The neighbor said she then called 911.
WEEKI WACHEE, Fla. — Download: WFTV app
Deputies said they went to the Weeki Wachee home on Robina Road last Tuesday and then returned Wednesday to remove multiple carcasses.
Deputies said there was feces and urine throughout the house, with no access to food or water for the dogs.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Denise Molone said it isn't clear how many because they were in the advanced stages of decomposition.
Neighbors told deputies that no one had been staying at the house since Kopp left following Hurricane Irma in September.
The news release stated that Kopp told deputies, “She was renting the house to a friend and did not have keys to get into the house. She denied ownership of the deceased dog.”
Kopp told deputies at the scene that she had given all her dogs to a shelter in Citrus County prior to moving, the release said.
Attempts to contact the renter were unsuccessful, and while Kopp said she regularly checked the mail at the home, she could not recall the last time she saw the renter, deputies said.
While Kopp was speaking with deputies, several neighbors approached, telling deputies the deceased dogs in question did in fact belong to Kopp, the release stated.
Investigators said they contacted Kopp’s former boyfriend of nine years, Michael Oliveira.
He indicated Kopp owned four dogs prior to the end of their relationship in 2015, and he named and described four dogs in detail, investigators said.
Using photographs provided by deputies, Oliveira positively identify three of the deceased dogs as belonging to Kopp, deputies said.
Kopp is free on $8,000 bail.
Media Release Re: Weeki Wachee Woman Charged with Four Counts of Animal Cruelty Date: March 12, 2018 On 3-6-18 at...
Posted by Hernando County Sheriff's Office on Monday, March 12, 2018
Cox Media Group
