- Florida, USA -
The Kissimmee Police Department arrested 34-years-old OLIVIA SHAWNTAY JONES (pictured) for animal cruelty.
According to court documents, on May 12, 2023, KP Officer Contramaestre, responded to a property on East Cypress Street to assist the Osceola County Sheriff's Office with what started as a civil matter, that later turned into an animal cruelty case.
Upon arrival, KP Officer Contramaestre met with Deputy Sheriff Rhine who was there “to serve a 24-hour eviction notice to a derelict RV camper that was on the property.”
DS Rhine reported that he had knocked on the door of the residence and the male who answered, told him that he was renting the place. The man then allowed DS Rhine access to the backyard and there, DS Rhine “discovered multiple puppies in a makeshift kennel with an unventilated tarp over the kennel.” The puppies were tethered inside the kennel. DS Rhine further noticed a dog who was tethered by a leash outside the kennel. DS Rhine stated: “the leash was wrapped so much, that it allowed very minimal movement and the dog was very emaciated.” DS Rhine reported that the dog did not have shelter and that there was no food or water for any of the dogs.
DS Rhine reported that when he walked to the RV to post the eviction notice, he saw a table outside and, on the table, was a small mesh pink pet bag with two additional puppies inside. The puppies were emaciated and did not have any access to food or water, stated DS Rhine.
DS Rhine sadly discovered a deceased kitten, less than four feet from the front door of the residence.
DS Rhine then notified his supervisor, the Kissimmee Police Department, and Osceola County Animal Control. While waiting for Animal Control, he was able to make contact with the owner of the RV, JONES.
According to court documents, JONES first told DS Rhine that “the dogs in the makeshift kennel were her dogs, the dog on the leash was a stray, and she was babysitting the puppies in the mesh bag.” JONES later told DS Rhine that her friend could not take care of the puppies and that was why she had them.
Animal Control Investigator Melissa Enix responded to the scene and following her observations she stated that her findings constituted felony animal abuse.
At that point, KP Officer Contramaestre had probable cause to believe that JONES “committed aggravated animal cruelty, when she failed to care for the animals she had in her custody of, which resulted in the cruel death, and excessive and repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering of the animals.”
JONES was placed under arrest and transported to the Osceola County Jail.
Online court records show that JONES is facing one felony count of animal cruelty and five misdemeanor counts of confinement of animals without food/water exercise.
Online arrest records show that at time of writing, JONES is still in custody and that her pretrial is slated to take place on the morning of Wednesday, August 9, 2023, at 9:00.
Authorities did not disclose the name of the deceased kitten so I took the liberty of naming him/her Soleil (French for sun) for the tribute image. Should his/her given name be made public, I will rectify it accordingly.
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Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.
JONES’ mugshot shared from the Osceola County Jail.
Additional Source:
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