The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Winter Haven woman Thursday on felony animal cruelty charges after detectives found a dead donkey and several dead and dying cats at her Logan Lane home.
Deputies took 59-year-old Melissa McKinney into custody on October 1 following an investigation by the Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit and Environmental Crimes detectives. The Sheriff’s Office said more charges are pending.
Charges
McKinney faces:
- Three counts of felony animal cruelty (third-degree felony)
- Two counts of creating or maintaining a nuisance injurious to health (second-degree misdemeanor)
- Three counts of operating an unpermitted solid waste site (first-degree misdemeanor)
- Two counts of unauthorized possession of dairy cases
How the case began
Polk County Animal Control officers and Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials went to the property earlier in the week. They responded to reports of diseased and dead animals and a chemical leak.
The DEP contacted the Sheriff’s Office after arriving, citing the suspicious nature of the situation and the dead animals its staff saw. DEP tested the water and air and found no evidence of a harmful gas leak.
What detectives found
According to affidavit excerpts released by the Sheriff’s Office, a detective smelled decomposition coming from a trash can at the gate. A donkey lay in the yard, apparently dead, with signs in the dirt that it had thrashed. The detective wrote that the marks pointed to “a veterinarian emergency” and severe pain and distress.
McKinney told investigators the donkey must have just died, then said it had been lying in that spot since the weekend and could not get up. Asked whether she had called a vet, she replied, “I haven’t had time.” The affidavit notes she had time to contact Animal Control and DEP.
The detective counted four dead cats in the yard and three cats that were lethargic, unresponsive and breathing with difficulty. McKinney confirmed that 10 to 15 more dead cats were in her dumpster, the affidavit said.
Other cats looked healthy. So did a pony and two dogs. The detective wrote that all the animals share the yard, food and water, yet only certain ones appeared ill. The detective also saw several lidded containers of antifreeze around the yard.
The affidavit said McKinney never asked for medical help for her animals. She only wanted the dead animals removed.
Conditions at the property
Investigators also described a heavily littered property next to a creek. The affidavit listed:
- Uncovered piles of construction materials, rusted tools, household goods, appliances, vehicle parts, electrical wires and trash, some within 3 feet of the creek bed
- A burn pit within 2 feet of the creek, measuring 6 feet 4 inches wide and more than 13 feet long
- Containers and a waste tire holding stagnant water, some with live larvae
- A broken plastic cooler covering the septic tank lid
- Large amounts of animal waste, with flies and mosquitoes concentrated around the home
Animals removed
Detectives served a search warrant and took two brown dogs and a pony, all in fair condition. They also removed two adult cats and three kittens in extremely poor condition. All five later died. Detectives also removed four dead cats and the dead donkey.
The dead animals will undergo necropsies to determine how they died. The Sheriff’s Office said additional charges depend on those results.
Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office:
“These poor animals likely could have been saved had this suspect only called someone for help. Now she’s facing serious felonies. Hopefully the living animals we seized can be rehabilitated and eventually adopted out to loving families.”
Charges are accusations. McKinney is presumed innocent unless a court finds otherwise.