A Volusia County woman is facing two counts of animal cruelty after deputies said they found two English bulldogs living alone in a house with no running water and floors covered in urine and feces.
Kristi Lynn Kilby, 58, of Deltona, was arrested Sunday, according to a Volusia Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit. She told Deltona Animal Control the dogs had been living alone in the home and had not received medical care for over a year, the affidavit states.
Kilby, who lives at another home in Deltona, told deputies she visited the dogs daily. She acknowledged the house had no running water and said the only water the dogs had was bottled water that she brought from her home, the affidavit states.
Deputies went to the house on Monica Street about 7:40 a.m. Sunday after an anonymous caller reported the dogs were living alone in filth and were rarely visited. From outside, the house appeared abandoned, with the yard grown about a foot high and old hurricane-style shutters covering the windows, Deputy Lindsey Campbell wrote in the affidavit.
Through a sliding glass door, Campbell saw two English bulldogs that appeared “dirty, underweight, with extremely long toenails.” Feces and urine covered the floor behind them, some of it old enough to have turned gray, according to the affidavit.
Two neighbors told Campbell no one had been to the house in about two or three weeks. Another said someone appeared to have come by about a week earlier because a garbage can had been taken to the curb and brought back, the affidavit states.
One neighbor gave Campbell a phone number for Kilby, who the neighbor said was in charge of the house and would come to care for the dogs, according to the affidavit.
Deputies found Kilby at her home, and she agreed to meet them at the Monica Street house, the affidavit states. She arrived wearing latex gloves that she brought with her.
When Kilby opened the garage door, an overwhelming smell came from inside, Campbell wrote. Urine and feces covered all of the hard flooring, and deputies nearly lost their footing several times, according to the affidavit. The smell made deputies and animal control officers “physically gag” and made their eyes burn, and they had to step outside repeatedly for air, Campbell wrote.
Animal control asked Kilby why there was more far more than a single day’s worth of waste. She said it was because the house had no running water and she refused to clean it using only bottled water, according to the affidavit.
Animal control found both dogs had loose, excess skin consistent with malnourishment, along with severely overgrown nails and staining around their eyes, the affidavit states.
Kilby told animal control she tried to rehome the dogs in Jacksonville, but later said the potential new home was in Deltona, Campbell wrote. She first said she cared for the dogs herself every day, then said friends sometimes helped when she had car trouble, but could not provide full names or phone numbers for them.
Kilby voluntarily surrendered both dogs to Deltona Animal Control, the affidavit states, and she taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail, where bond was set at $1,000. She posted bond and was released the same day, jail records show.
Under Florida law, each count of animal cruelty is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
Court records do not yet list an attorney for Kilby, and her first appearance, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday, was canceled.
Deltona Animal Control did not immediately respond Monday to a phone message from HomeFetch asking about the dogs’ condition.
