Starving, skeletal horses found at a Florida deputy’s home, sheriff’s office says
A Florida deputy has been arrested and charged with animal neglect, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Former Pasco County detention deputy Raven Devoss, 27, is facing multiple animal cruelty charges after five starving horses were found at her home in Ruskin, according to agency officials.
There was no food, water or shelter for the animals, Hillsborough deputies said. They were also surrounded by trash, debris and loose barbed wires.
The horses were “in very poor heath due to malnutrition” and had “several open sores ... due to poor care from the owner,” according to a news release.
Devoss, who was hired on July 30, 2018 by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, was five days away from her one-year work anniversary when she was arrested on Thursday.
Devoss was “dismissed ... during her probationary period for failure to meet the conditions of her probation,” a Pasco County spokeswoman said in an email to the Miami Herald.
The former deputy is facing five counts of unlawful confinement or abandonment of animals. She is also facing five counts of animal cruelty. She was released on bond. Each charge had a bond of $500.
This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 1:59 PM.
