A Palatka man was arrested Sunday after police said they found two puppies discarded in a trash can, one of which had already been taken away by the garbage truck, while investigators discovered several other severely neglected dogs inside a home covered in feces.
Eric Milton Kitzweger, 65, faces four felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty and four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty following the investigation at his Husson Avenue residence, according to a Palatka Police Department arrest report.
Police said Putnam County Animal Control was called to the home after receiving a report that two puppies had been left in a trash can. According to the report, one puppy “was already deceased and was taken away by the garbage truck,” while the second “was in a state of extreme suffering.”
The responding officer wrote that the surviving puppy was “extremely emaciated,” with its ribs visible and “so weak that it was unable to lift its head fully.” The puppy was taken to a nearby veterinarian for emergency treatment but later died, according to the report.
Kitzweger told investigators the puppies had been born about three weeks earlier, the report stated, and that the two puppies found in the trash can had been sick.
Investigators said the conditions inside the home extended far beyond the two puppies.
According to the arrest report, three additional puppies and their mother were found severely neglected. One puppy was “so extremely neglected” that it required immediate life-saving treatment for extreme dehydration, malnourishment and being flea-infested. he mother dog was described as “extremely emaciated,” with all of her ribs visible, weak while walking and slow to react.
Police also alleged the remaining puppies were living in such poor conditions that, if they had not been removed from the home, “they would likely perish.”
Inside the residence, the officer reported finding “copious amounts” of dog feces throughout the home. The report states that two adult dogs were living among the waste.
Kitzweger was booked into the Putnam County Jail, where he is being held without bond.
