01/25/2025
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Yesterday, January 23, 2025, a massive collaborative effort between the Citrus County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) Animal Control Officers and Citrus County Animal Services resulted in the rescue of 90 dogs from a Hernando home. Animal Control Officers (ACO) described the living conditions both inside the home and around the property as โdeplorableโ and โsevereโ.
The Animal Control Unit has dealt with the homeowner, 79-year-old Elouise Leland, as a breeder and animal owner for more than 12 years. In 2013, Leland was issued multiple civil citations relating to inhumane living conditions of livestock in her possession, including pigs, goats, chickens, and ducks, as well as dogs and cats kept in inadequate pens with no access to water, shelter, or sufficient medical care. As a result of ACOโs interventions, Leland surrendered all livestock.
Last week during a routine check-in, ACOโs observed several dogs with obvious medical ailments and sub-par living conditions, upon which Leland was given notice to correct the issues.
When deputies and ACOโs returned to the residence Thursday morning, conditions had significantly declined, including the discovery of a deceased dog in one of the outdoor enclosures. The collaborative team worked tirelessly to ensure the safe removal of each animal from the property, providing immediate care and transportation to a secure location for further evaluation and treatment.
โ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข ๐๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ณ๐๐น๐น๐,โ said Animal Control Unit Supervisor Lora Peckham. โ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐.โ
Citrus County Animal Services and ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) responders have been instrumental in providing ongoing support, including medical evaluations, food, and shelter for the rescued dogs. Forensic veterinarians with the ASPCA are conducting intake exams to document the animalsโ health conditions, which will aid in building a case against Leland.
โ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ,โ said Citrus County Animal Services Director Colleen Yarbrough. โ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณโ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น.โ
Due to the extensive strain on resources being utilized by Animal Services, a dire need exists for foster-ready households and individuals who are inclined to adopt to accommodate the overflow of pets currently at the shelter. Animals involved in this case are not available for fostering or adoption at this time.
Elouise Leland was arrested on one felony count and five misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, with the potential for additional charges pending the results of forensic intake exams.
The investigation remains ongoing. CCSO urges the public to report any suspected cases of animal cruelty or neglect to our office by calling (352) 726-1121. To remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a reward, contact Crime Stoppers of Citrus County at 1-888-ANY-TIPS (888-269-8477) or online at www.CrimeStoppersCitrus.com.
๐ผ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ฉ๐ง๐ช๐จ ๐พ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐โ๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐จ ๐ผ๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐พ๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐ค๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ:
๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด (๐๐๐โ๐ด) ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐งโ๐ด ๐๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ 1, 2009, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐๐โ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐บโ๐ด ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ.
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