A 35-year-old Ocala woman is being charged with animal cruelty after she was caught on video abandoning seven puppies near the entrance of a local animal shelter.
On Tuesday, February 14, a Marion County Animal Services investigator contacted the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in reference to seven mix breed puppies that were abandoned at the Humane Society of Marion County.
According to the MCSO report, video footage of the incident showed a person pulling into the shelter’s parking lot and throwing seven puppies from the trunk of a vehicle. An MCSO corporal met with the investigator and viewed the video footage, which showed a Black female in a red four-door car.
A computer search of the vehicle’s license plate revealed that it was registered to Geneva Desiree Nicole Honor.
The MCSO report stated that the video showed the female suspect, later identified as Honor, pulling into the parking lot at the time of the incident, and she proceeded to back her car up to the entrance to allow another vehicle to enter the parking lot.
The corporal noted in the report that Honor briefly exited her car and approached the trunk, though she quickly re-entered the vehicle when an unidentified individual walked out of the building. When that individual was no longer visible on the camera, Honor exited the vehicle, opened the trunk, and proceeded to “grab puppies one by one.”
According to the MCSO report, Honor proceeded to “hurl” each puppy into the bushes located near the entrance of the shelter “with force like tossing a bag of garbage into a dumpster.” Honor then re-entered her vehicle and left the area.
The corporal responded to Honor’s residence located in the 2400 block of NW 40th Street in Ocala. Upon arrival, the corporal observed the same red four-door car from the video parked on the east side of the residence.
The corporal made contact with Honor at the residence. When asked about the puppies, Honor stated that she took them to the shelter and “dropped them off,” according to the MCSO report.
Honor told the corporal that she did not speak with anyone at the shelter. The corporal asked why Honor did not take the puppies inside the shelter, and she replied by stating that she “did not know what she was supposed to do.”
During the interview, Honor told the corporal that she was “tired of the puppies coming into her yard” and “(expletive) all over.” She stated that the puppies were “chewing things up” under the home and she “wanted them gone,” according to the MCSO report.
Honor stated that the puppies did not belong to her and instead belonged to one of her relatives. She stated that she had contacted her relative about removing the puppies and felt like she was “getting the runaround.”
Honor told the corporal that she got rid of the puppies and would have taken the two adult dogs at the residence as well if she was not afraid of being bitten by them. The corporal noted in the report that Honor claimed that she had done nothing wrong, and she stated that she “should have just shot” the puppies.
The relative who owned the puppies was contacted by phone and told investigators that the plan was to take the puppies to the Humane Society of Marion County when they were “old enough.” The MCSO report stated that the puppies are approximately eight-weeks old, and they will be re-homed after receiving veterinary care.
Honor was arrested, transported to Marion County Jail, and she was later released on $16,000 bond. She is facing seven counts of abandonment of an animal along with seven counts of animal cruelty.
A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.