PETITION TARGET: Office of the State Attorney, 18th Judicial Circuit
Two dogs named Opal and Rudy, along with a cat named Noki, were reportedly abandoned and left to slowly starve to death—trapped for about four months in a closed bedroom of an apartment in Merritt Island, Florida, according to local news.
The animals’ decomposing remains were found surrounded by filth and an infestation of flies, with food cruelly placed on a shelf where they could see it but couldn’t reach it.
To make matters worse, the individual allegedly responsible is a vet tech and had another dog in her care in a different county in 2024 who also appeared to have died from starvation—yet, reportedly, no consequences followed.
This time, she faces three counts each of aggravated felony animal cruelty; unlawful confinement without sufficient food, water or exercise; and abandonment of animals.
“Imagine the pain that these animals suffered as they laid there and starved to death and died of thirst,” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said.
Lady Freethinker thanks Sheriff Ivey for speaking out so powerfully against this heartbreaking cruelty—and for recognizing the slow, torturous deaths these innocent animals endured.
Sign our petition urging Florida State Attorney William Scheiner to prosecute the individual responsible to the fullest extent of the law—including mandating intensive psychological intervention and a lifelong ban on having animals.
