July 2001
DAIA was contacted by a Florida woman whose two cats had been poisoned to death with antifreeze. When the second cat got sick, she found a bowl of tuna mixed with antifreeze in her neighbor’s yard and called the police. Her neighbor admitted to the police that he had put out the antifreeze intentionally to keep the cats out of his yard.
After a lot of persuasion on her part, a report was filed and it appeared that he would be charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals. The Florida statute clearly says that any intentional act resulting in the cruel death of an animal is a felony. After we wrote and called the state attorney’s office repeatedly, the case was filed as a felony.
