A Big Pine Key woman was is behind bars after allegedly drowning a puppy and asking to bury it in her neighbor’s yard, according to arrest documents released by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Delaine Lowry, 72, faces a felony count of animal cruelty.
According to her arrest report, a neighbor on Palmetto Avenue called the sheriff’s office on Nov. 18 to report that Lowry came to his house holding a dead miniature schnauzer puppy, asking to bury the dog she had just drowned in his yard.
When the neighbor refused, he told authorities, Lowry said, “I’ll just throw it over the fence.”
When deputies arrived at Lowry’s home, she handed the 2-to-3-pound, 6-to-10-month-old puppy over to them in a grocery bag, saying she “had to kill the dog because it was going to kill her.” She later tried to retrieve it from the deputies, saying she was going to “bring (the dog) back to life.”
Upon examination of the property, which was “unkept, with garbage, damaged furniture and overgrown trees and shrubs,” deputies found a five-gallon container filled with dirty water with a wet area of dirt around its base.
Questioned as to whether he knew his puppy was dead, Lowry’s husband James said he was unaware the dog had died until Delaine told him that police were outside the house. He said Delaine hadn’t said or done anything unusual that day.
An online profile on Gooddog.com listed a Delaine Lowry as a breeder of giant schnauzers based in Miami. The site listed her as a “trusted Good Dog breeder” for meeting and exceeding standards in areas of “responsible breeding practices, health of breeding dogs and puppies and puppy environment and enrichment.”
“I raise all of my dogs with love in my home,” the profile stated.
The profile was later removed from the site around noon on Nov. 20.
The deceased puppy was taken to Cruz Animal Hospital on Ramrod Key for a necropsy. Lowry was released from jail on Nov. 19 on a $35,000 bond.
“This is a deeply disturbing case. Animal cruelty will not be tolerated in our community,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay in an MCSO press release. “I want to thank the deputies who acted quickly as well as our friends with the SPCA who assisted in this case.”
Lowery was arrested again on Nov. 19; this time for reportedly burglarizing the SPCA facility in Marathon.
Deputies responded to the Florida Keys SPCA on Aviation Boulevard at approximately 5:26 p.m. last Tuesday regarding a burglary in which a door was pried open. Lowry was quickly identified as the suspect via security video showing Lowry traversing a fence and taking other means to enter the property illegally. SPCA employees said Lowry was known to them and that she was attempting to retrieve dogs that were confiscated from her after her arrest on Monday for intentionally drowning one of them.
Deputies went to Lowry’s residence. She was wearing the same clothes as seen in the security video. She was taken to jail. She now faces new charges of burglary and criminal mischief in addition to the earlier charge of animal cruelty.
