PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WWSB) – A Port Charlotte woman has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of cruelty to animals and abandonment months after animal control officers found a dog in immediate need of care and the carcasses of two dead animals in her apartment, records show.
According to records obtained from Charlotte County Animal Control, a renter was being evicted from an apartment in the 28000 block of Bermont Road in Punta Gorda. Animal control officers were dispatched on July 28, 2021, to take possession of a dog inside the vacant apartment.
When officers entered the residence, they found a malnourished hound mix and the carcass of a dead shepherd mix among large piles of trash and scattered belongings inside the apartment. The dog still alive was impounded for medical treatment.
The carcass of a dead cat was also found as the apartment was being cleaned out, records show.
Animal control officers made multiple attempts to make contact with the renter, 29-year-old Morgan Bright.
The surviving dog was treated and finally released to the county animal shelter on Dec. 7, 2021. Based on the evidence, an arrest warrant was issued for Bright on two counts of animal cruelty, two counts of abandonment of animals, and one count of improper disposal of dead animals.
Bright was arrested on Jan. 31 and remains in the Charlotte County Jail. Bright has entered a plea of not guilty, court records show. She is scheduled to be arraigned on March 14.
© Provided by WWSB Tampa Animal Control officers rescued this dog from a Punta Gorda apartment in July, 2021.
© Provided by WWSB Tampa Animal control officers discovered a neglected dog and the carcasses of two other animals in this Punta Gorda apartment.
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