Florida Keys woman accused of burglary day after allegedly drowning puppy
KEY WEST — A Florida Keys woman, who was arrested Monday after she allegedly intentionally drowned a dog, is accused of burglary at an animal rescue in Marathon two days later, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.
On Wednesday, Delaine Abee Lowry, 72, was arrested after a burglary of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals building in Marathon. She is now facing charges of burglary and criminal mischief beside animal cruelty.
Deputies responded to the Florida Keys SPCA at 5:26 p.m. Tuesday regarding a burglary in which a door was pried open. Lowry was identified as the suspect via security video showing Lowry traversing a fence and taking other means to enter the property illegally, the sheriff's office said.
SPCA employees said Lowry was known to them and that she was attempting to retrieve dogs confiscated from her after her arrest on Monday for intentionally drowning one of them.
Deputies went to Lowry's residence, where was wearing the same clothes as seen in the security video, deputies say.
Around 3:30 p.m. Monday, deputies were called out to a home on Palmetto Drive where a neighbor said Lowry allegedly asked him if she could "bury a dead, 6 to 10 month-old mini schnauzer puppy" in his yard and declined her request, the sheriff's office said.
Lowry was found at her Big Pine Key home shortly after the incident and admitted to drowning the dog.
According to the MCSO, she said the dog was going to kill her and deputies found the dead animal in a plastic grocery bag on her property, along with a container filled with water surrounded by wet dirt.
The Florida Keys SPCA was notified of the incident and a necropsy is pending.
"This is a deeply disturbing case," said Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay. "Animal cruelty will not be tolerated in our community."