Florida tent-dweller kills kitten with 'crystal salt' injection after she was reported for collecting dead animals
CANTONMENT, FLORIDA: A woman has been arrested on Monday, August 31, and charged with animal cruelty after she allegedly killed a kitten by injecting it with "crystal salt". Selena Dunlap allegedly killed the animal by trying to treat it herself in May.
An offense report filed to the state attorney’s office by Escambia County Animal Control investigator Stephanie Eddins stated that though the baby cat required licensed veterinary care, the 20-year-old accused used a non-injectable type of sodium chloride (salt) on the animal to treat it. The injection left the kitten in such condition that it struggled to even hold its head up.
According to reports, several Facebook pages were also found where Dunlap posted pleas for help with treating sick baby cats. The posts also included a very sick tabby, around the same time when the kitten was injected with salt crystals. Through the posts, Dunlap tried to raise money, The Metro reported. However, it was not the first time the young woman neglected and abused an animal. In October 2019, Dunlap’s father reported her to animal control and said she should be banned from having animals. He told animal control that his daughter, who lived in a tent home in Cantonment, collected dead animals varying in “different stages of decay”. When the father’s claim was investigated, Dunlap was found living with 15 animals in her tent: seven dogs, including flea-covered puppies and eight cats. In her report, Eddins mentioned that the suspect was asked to bury the dead animals found near the tent. She also asked Dunlap to surrender the animals in her care, to which she agreed.
The accused, who has also been charged with animal cruelty and unlicensed practice of veterinary medicine, was held in the Escambia County jail on a $6,000 bond.
In another incident, a Missouri man was arrested and charged for torturing, killing, and dismembering several cats and kittens. Kaine Louzader had allegedly bought or received the animals for free after seeing online ads for them. Documents pertaining to the case filed by St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar stated that the 20-year-old suspect slaughtered 12 cats and kittens after he got the animals from people who were offering them on Craigslist.
Suspicion on Louzader started arising in January 2019 when a number of dead cats began turning up on or near the street where he lived. Then in May, witnesses saw a man dumping a dead cat from a bag of water near Louzader's house. After an investigation, the young man’s car matched the description of the car the culprit was seen driving.
Eventually, Louzader admitted to the crime and said he killed the animals either stomping on their heads or strangling them in a bathtub or on the patio, dismembering some by cutting off their heads or limbs, and then dumping them on the streets. One of his neighbors said, “If someone's capable of doing that to an animal, who knows what they could do? I can't imagine what kind of a sick person would do that to an animal.” "I had one in the side of my yard and another in my fenced-in yard. It's shocking. It's disturbing,” another one added.