HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A Hillsborough County woman is facing multiple charges after deputies say they uncovered severe cases of animal cruelty and child neglect in her home.
Deputies responded Aug 29 to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, where staff reported three severely neglected dogs. One was so malnourished it had to be euthanized. The other two are recovering.
Investigators say the dogs’ owner, Carla Sanchez Diaz, 29, told staff she found them abandoned behind a gas station, but video evidence and witness interviews proved otherwise. Deputies say Sanchez Diaz later confessed.
She is charged with five counts of child neglect, three counts each of aggravated cruelty to animals, animal abandonment and unlawful confinement or abandonment of an animal, and two counts of animal cruelty.
Deputies found two more dogs and five children inside her Montana Avenue home. The dogs were taken by animal control, and the Florida Department of Children and Families took custody of the children.
This is an ongoing investigation.
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