AVON PARK -- An Avon Park woman was arrested for animal cruelty after Highlands County Sheriff’s Office deputies discovered she had more than 70 animals inside her home on Thursday, Jan. 3.
Jinece Elizabeth Loughry, 66, was charged with 72 counts of animal cruelty after 49 live animals (42 dogs, eight cats and one bird) were taken from her 1,002-square-foot home at 1367 Memorial Drive. An additional 23 dead animals were also found in the home. Some of them were in such advanced states of decomposition that it was impossible to immediately determine if they were dogs or cats.
Many of the animals were confined to crates that were stacked three high in the living room, while others were loose inside the home, which had no running water. Loughry had not been living in the home, which was also infested with roaches and rats, since November.
The HCSO had received no complaints about the home until a tip on Thursday alerted deputies to the situation. Once a search warrant was obtained, deputies and Animal Services officers entered the home and began the long process of removing and assessing the animals. It took more than an hour just to remove the live animals.
Loughry was a volunteer for the Hardee Animal Rescue Team (HART), which is based in Hardee County. She had reportedly been telling HART that she was finding homes for the animals that she was in fact storing at the home.
HART volunteers came to the home and took all of the live animals to their facility in Wauchula be examined and treated. All of the animals survived the night and a veterinarian will be examining all of the animals today (Jan. 4).
“There is no excuse for animals to be abused like this,” Sheriff Paul Blackman said. “Our Animal Services, which is a division of the sheriff’s office, inspects all four registered animal rescues in our county -- including the Humane Society -- on a quarterly basis, but we need to be able to go even further. I will be reaching out to the county commission as soon as possible to discuss a county ordinance that would require anyone operating a rescue or serving as a foster home for animals as part of a rescue -- even as a volunteer -- to register with Animal Services so they can be monitored and inspected on a regular basis. We need to make sure something like this horrible tragedy never happens again in our county.”
Several of the deputies on site offered to adopt some of the animals, and they will all be available for adoption through HART. Anyone who is interested in adopting can call 863-781-2045 or visit www.hardeeanimalrescueteam.com for more information. HART said adoptions will cost between $75 and $85 depending on if they already have a microchip (many of them did). Some of the animals are in good enough shape to be available for immediate adoption, while others will have to be held until they are in better shape.
This case is still under investigation. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Det. Vincent Forest at 863-402-7250 or email detectives@highlandssheriff.org. Anonymous tips can be left with Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS or www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com. Crime Stoppers tips are eligible for a cash reward of up to $3,000.
Anonymous tips can also be left through the HCSO’s smartphone app, available for free for both iPhone and Android devices.
Note: All arrests do not result in convictions. Everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty in court.
