INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 49-year-old woman who deputies said deliberately neglected a Rottweiler was arrested after deputies found the puppy’s badly decomposed remains still in its crate at her home.

The woman admitted to not feeding or caring for the dog for more than two weeks. Deputies had to use special breathing masks as they searched the woman’s stench-filled residence.

Deputies think the dog has been dead for three to four weeks, authorities said.

“This is one of the worst animal cruelty cases we have seen,” Sheriff Deryl Loar said in a statement. “No animal should have to suffer such a death.”

Terri Redstone
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Deputies arrested Terri Lynn Redstone, of the 1700 block of 6th Avenue, on two counts of cruelty to animals. She was released Sunday from the Indian River County Jail on $5,000 bond.

Sheriff’s K-9 Deputy Christian Mathisen said he responded to Redstone’s home shortly before noon Saturday to conduct a welfare check. Someone called 911 and reported not seeing Redstone for several days, a foul odor coming from her residence and insects gathering on the inside of the windows, deputies said.

“The smell was horrendous,” Mathisen said. “At that point, I felt very strongly we would be conducting a death investigation, so I contacted another deputy to be en route.”

Mathisen said the second deputy arrived, looked through a window and saw what appeared to be the Rottweiler’s remains in a crate. Deputies also saw a small Whippet breed dog loose in the home.

Mathisen said the crime scene was so “disgusting” that he left after more deputies arrived at the home.

Deputies eventually reached Redstone. She admitted to not properly taking care of the Rottweiler, deputies said. Deputies think the Rottweiler was 12 months old. Details on the puppy’s name and how long Redstone owned the animal were not available.

Since animal control can only transport live animals, it’s Redstone’s responsibility to remove the dog’s remains from the home, Mathisen said.

Sheriff’s K-9 Deputy Christian Mathisen talks about Rottweiler’s death in animal cruelty case.

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.Indian River County Sheriff's Office K-9 Deputy Christian Mathisen talks about scene Saturday where he smelled something foul and then discovered a dog “in the advanced stages of decomposition” inside a woman’s home. The homeowner, Terri Redstone, faces animal cruelty charges. Here what Deputy Mathisen has to say about the case. #VeroNews

Posted by Nick Samuel on Monday, June 4, 2018

Deputies found several bags of dog food around the home and determined Redstone intentionally neglected the Rottweiller.

“There was no reason to not feed the animal,” Mathisen said. “She could have easily turned it over to animal control or the humane society.”

Redstone, who was at Starbucks, went to the home soon after deputies had arrived , Mathisen said.

Deputies arrested Redstone and took her to the county jail. It’s unknown if she lived alone.

Animal control removed the Whippet from the home. Mathisen said the Whippet was pretty thin and was probably on its way to being emaciated.

Neighbors’ Reactions

Two neighbors who were walking their own dogs across the street from Redstone’s home Monday afternoon were shocked after hearing about the Rottweiler’s death.

A third neighbor, Vickie Catalona, who lives across the street from Redstone, said she watched as Sheriff’s deputies entered Redstone’s home Saturday and discovered the gruesome remains of what once was a healthy dog.

The 69-year-old said she and other neighbors smelled a “propane-like” odor coming from Redstone’s residence. Catalona described the incident as “heartbreaking.”

“There’s no excuse for animal cruelty,” Catalona said. Catalona, who owns a 10-year-old Chihuahua named Marley, said she offered Redstone help to walk her dogs, but never heard back from her.

Catalona described Redstone as “very disabled.” Further details on Redstone’s condition were not immediately available.

Catalona said she saw when deputies carried out the Whippet dog from inside the home. She said the Whippet was “skin and bones.”

For Catalona, the Rottweiler’s death at a home just several feet away is cruel and infuriating.

“To think that you would deliberately put your pet in a cage to die and do nothing about it. It’s incomprehensible,” Catalona said. “She deliberately starved that dog to death.

Video by Nick Samuel