Animal cruelty

Tavares woman facing 31 animal cruelty charges after emaciated cattle investigation

TAVARES, Fla. — A Tavares woman is facing 31 animal cruelty charges following an investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office that began in April. Lori Ann Gonzalez, 62, was arrested Wednesday and released from the Lake County Jail on $77,500 bond early Thursday morning, according to LCSO online booking records. A livestock welfare complaint led authorities to a pasture in unincorporated Tavares, where cattle were found severely emaciated, launching an animal neglect investigation, LCSO Public Information Officer Deputy Stephanie Earley told Inside Lake last month. Lake County Agricultural/Marine Unit and Animal Enforcement officers responded to 28304 Atlantis Road on […]

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Inside Scoop, Tavares, Unincorporated Lake / By / May 7, 2026

Teen arrested for killing family cat in dryer Monday

MINNEOLA, Fla.—A teenager is facing a charge of animal cruelty—excessively cruel, after putting the family cat in the dryer and killing it, according to an arrest affidavit. Shortly before 6 p.m. Monday, Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a home on Plum Lake Drive in Minneola on a report of a suspicious incident. When they arrived, the mother of Cayden Mikkel Williams told a deputy her son had just killed the family cat, named “Mouse” by putting it in the dryer. She said when she was coming into the neighborhood with her other children, she saw Williams walking and

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Inside Scoop, Minneola / By / April 2, 2024

Man who Killed French Bulldog in 2021 Clermont Botched C-Section Headed to Prison

CLERMONT, Fla.—One of the men arrested after a botched C-section killed Lyla the French bulldog in Clermont in 2021, is headed to prison after pleading no contest to numerous charges last week, according to Lake County Clerk of Court online records. Frankie Huertas Rivera, 36, pleaded no contest Friday—exactly three years to the day Lyla lost her life. In 2021, Larry Colon, then 50, paid Rivera $650 to perform a C-section on Lyla in Colon’s living room and Colon’s daughter filmed the horrific surgery and posted it to TikTok Feb. 9, 2021. According to a probable cause affidavit in the

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Clermont, Inside Scoop, Unincorporated Lake / By / February 13, 2024

Man Admits Shooting Neighbor’s Dogs, Killing 1, Held on $150K Bond

An earlier version of this story misidentified the deceased dog due to an error in the arrest affidavit. The dog’s name is Mary. SORRENTO, Florida—A Sorrento man is in the Lake County Jail after he admitted shooting his neighbor’s dogs Saturday night, killing 13-year-old Mary, according to an arrest affidavit. Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to Holopaw Trail in Sorrento shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday after the victim reported her neighbor, Sheldon Keith Hayward, 65, had shot her dogs, killing one of them. The woman told LCSO she let the dogs out in her backyard and did not realize

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Inside Scoop, Unincorporated Lake / By / July 25, 2023

State Attorney Creates Animal Cruelty Task Force

OCALA, Florida—In an effort to streamline delivering justice to those who hurt animals, State Attorney Bill Gladson has created an Animal Cruelty Task Force for the Fifth Judicial Circuit that includes Lake, Citrus, Hernando, Marion and Sumter counties, his office said in a press release last week. The task force includes the Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC,) county animal services, and local law enforcement agencies and the goal is for law enforcement, animal services and animal protection organizations to work together to investigate and prosecute animal cruelty crimes throughout the circuit, according

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Astatula, Clermont, Eustis, Fruitland Park, Groveland, Howey-in-the-Hills, Inside Scoop, Lady Lake, Leesburg, Mascotte, Minneola, Montverde, Mount Dora, Tavares, Umatilla, Unincorporated Lake / By / January 15, 2023

Man Accused of Beating Pet Raccoon with Hammer, Threatening Roommate and Neighbor

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A Mount Dora man was arrested last week, accused of threatening his roommate, holding a “sewing” needle to his neighbor’s neck and beating a raccoon with a hammer that his roommate was caring for, according to an arrest affidavit. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to Circle Drive in Mount Dora on a report of a battery shortly after 5:30 p.m. Dec. 14 and when they arrived, a woman said her roommate, Tevin Keason Williams, 31, began punching her vehicle when she got home. A neighbor told deputies Williams threatened to kill him while holding a “sewing” needle

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Inside Scoop, Mount Dora, Unincorporated Lake / By / December 21, 2022
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