Clay County woman facing charges after dead dogs, a cat, reptiles found inside her home
A Clay County woman is facing animal cruelty charges after bodies of dogs, a cat and some reptiles were found inside her home.
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Thirty-eight-year-old Kjaristy Jean Levo is now behind bars.
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One animal practically cried out for help when neighbors called animal services.
Action News Jax spoke with those neighbors, but they wanted to remain anonymous. They said they had seen a black German Shepherd walking along Maluke Lane looking for food.
“The way she left these animals has really angered a lot of these neighbors around,” the neighbor said.
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She has lived on Maluke Lane for about nine years and the abandoned home the dog came from used to have dozens of animals -- nearly 80.
“There were rabbits, there were ducks,” the neighbor said. “There were geese, there were snakes, rodents, anything you could think of. She decided she didn’t want to pay the mortgage, [and the] bank took it over. She left all the animals. Unfortunately, a lot of them passed away on the property.”
The neighbor said a man and his daughter used to live in the property. And after the man passed away, the daughter moved out and left the animals to fend for themselves. She said the daughter is Kjaristy Jean Levo.
The neighbor says the German Shepherd, Max, once used to be a healthy boy.
“Gorgeous, gorgeous dog,” the neighbor said. “Very skittish, but just no aggression whatsoever.”
But he started to rely on the neighbors’ trash for food. So, she began to feed him. After about a month, when the neighbors realized no one was coming back to get him, they called animal services on Sept. 8.
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“And he looked horrible,” she said. “He had skin conditions. I was putting Benadryl in his food to make sure because he looked rough.”
The neighbor says she hopes to take Max in when he gets better.
The arrest report states that investigators found two dead dogs, a dead cat, a dead bearded dragon, and a dead gecko lizard inside cages and glass containers.
Levo is now facing three counts of aggravated animal cruelty and one count of animal abandonment. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said a warrant was issued and Levo turned herself in two days ago.
Levo is facing a $52,000 bond, and her next court date is set for January 23rd.
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