Keys Woman Accused Of Killing Dog After It Bit Her

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MARATHON (CBSMiami) - A Keys woman reportedly choked her dog to death because she was tired of it biting her.

Over the weekend, the Monroe Co. Sheriff's Office was contacted by the Florida Keys SPCA who said they had received information from the staff at Fisherman's Hospital that a woman had just killed her dog.

Deputies, along with a member of the SPCA, went to the woman's Marathon home to check it out.

Alice Evans, 61, reportedly told them her dog, a 12-year-old Chihuahua named "Big John Evans," had been becoming aggressive toward her. She said on Friday night, he bit her for the third time this year. Evans said she went to bed that night, woke at 5 a.m. and choked him to death with his collar. She then took the dog's body outside and buried it in her yard.

When asked why she didn't call the animal shelter for help with the dog, Evans reportedly had no answer.

Deputies noted a small wound on her hand.

The officers dug up the dog's body and it was transported to the Marathon Veterinary Hospital for a necropsy. The cause of death was determined to indeed be strangulation, a death which would have, according to reports, resulted in "the infliction of pain, suffering, and injury."

A warrant was issued and Evans was arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, a third-degree felony.