Posted on 01/06/2023 6:03:06 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
DUNNELLON, Fla. - A Florida man was arrested after detectives say he purposely poisoned pets in his neighborhood using antifreeze.
Marion County investigators arrested 36-year-old Jeremy Stromwall on aggravated animal cruelty charges. On Dec. 2, deputies responded to the 20100 block of Southwest 84th Lane in Dunnellon after receiving a report that a cat had possibly been poisoned.
The pet owner, John Scharf, told investigators his cat, named "Mr. Cat," began acting sick and was having seizures the previous night. He took Mr. Cat to Dunnellon Animal Hospital for treatment, where it passed away. According to the sheriff's office, further testing determined his pet was likely poisoned.
Scharf told FOX 13 he later realized his dog, Bella, also died after experiencing similar symptoms months earlier.
"Oh my gosh, it was terrible," he recalled. "I was up with the poor kitty all night. It was going through convulsions. It was just terrible. It's a tragedy. It's one of these things where you just don't think that you're around people that could do that."
According to the sheriff's office, a veterinarian at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine determined Mr. Cat likely died from ingesting antifreeze. Investigators then exhumed remains of three pets belonging to one of Scharf's neighbors, Cynthia Hadzima, and learned they were also poisoned with antifreeze.
Detectives said they found a bowl of tuna outside the suspect's home, which is across the street from Scharf and Hadzima. The food was sent to Texas A&M University’s Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, where experts tested the tuna and determined that it had been laced with antifreeze.
"They were cute. They were adorable, soft little furballs," said Hadzima, who said at least five of her cats died the same way. "Within a week or two, I would find cats dead on my front lawn and in my driveway."
Deputies searched Stromwall's property and said they found three containers of antifreeze, multiple cans of tuna, and fish-flavored rat poison.
"We're just very grateful that this investigation was able to be concluded with an arrest of someone who was doing this horrible thing and was unable to just because he was annoyed by them or what have you," said Zach Moore, a spokesperson for the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
"[Stromwall] really needs to be in jail. He really does," added Hadzima. "There's something wrong with this guy. He's sick, and he's very, very sick."
The four counts of aggravated animal cruelty charges stem from the four animals that tested positive for antifreeze poisoning.
FOX 13 stopped by Stromwall's home, but no one answered the door.
“Letting them roam freely outside, where they can be hit by a car or harmed by psychos like this, is the ultimately cruelty.”
I don’t disagree with this.
“...but this is what happens when people let their animals roam.”
I even watch our dog closely on walks to make sure he doesn’t get into something nasty (drugs, chocolate, etc.) out on our walks.
He did chase a coyote once which I’m glad that he couldn’t catch!
Early one morning I saw a coyote with a HUGE cat hanging from it’s mouth. My first thought was I bet that cat was surprised when it discovered that it wasn’t the top predator in the neighborhood.
It is an unsustainable attitude. If strays and ferals are not controled, if they are fed and protected, you get a lot more strays and ferals.
Animal "shelters" kill tens of millions of unwanted dogs and cats every year. You appear to be saying those are tens of millions of murders.
Am I misinterpreting your words?
In today’s world, where human life is so cheap, investigators actually exhumed dead pets?
The guy is a sicko but many worse sickos are pretty much left alone.
What a horrible way for any animal to die. If I lived in that neighborhood and he poisoned a pet of mine, I would burn his house down while he sat in jail.
So wait...these animals were not kept safe at home in their yards? They came to his house clapping, barfing, howling, growling possibly bringing rabies, killing birds and everything else and this guy just has to suck it up?
We went through a phase of having some irresponsible dog owner let Fido use our yard by sidewalk as his literal dumping ground.
Fox urine from Amazon sprinkled around the perimeter stopped it.
It wasn’t the dog’s fault…why punish the dog?
It's unfortunate that they do but at least they euthanize them humanely, they don't poison them and let them die a slow, tortuous death.
I remember an old lady in Carlsbad NM back in 1961 who killed mice and rats by mixing D-Con with hamburger. She also killed lots of cats and dogs, including our cat.
Throw a few mothballs in your flowerbed animals will avoid it.
“As long as you can dehumanize something, it’s very easy to justify murdering it.”
They are CATS!
Exactly!
I use rat and mouse bait that makes them bleed out, inside, from grotesque scratches in their throats.
Do these people have a problem with some pets, and not others?
I personally know someone who raises rats for movie and show use. They are his pets.
I’d say the same thing should be able to be done with any such animal. Rats and mice are animals, just like a stray cat.
We had a standard poodle for many years that kept roaming animals that didn’t respect our fence. We had to dispose of deceased cats on a regular basis.
Now we have a mini dachshund who only disposes of spiders and flies.
This is a breathtakingly ignorant comment. It's no surprise that often many of those who murder humans start out by murdering defenseless animals. That anyone defends or excuses the latter is truly sick and evil.
I guess the concept of neutering and spaying via a TNR program to control the feral population is lost on folks.
There’s also a substantial difference between some disturbed psychopath cruelly murdering a cat (or dog) with poison, which is a horrible way to die, versus an animal shelter euthanizing an animal in a painless manner. I had to have a terminally ill young rescue cat put to sleep a year and a half ago to prevent her from suffering.
Like I said... and that’s how many future serial killers get their start. “Just a cat.”
And mother’s milk leads to pedophilia.
Not justifying this lunatic, but perhaps his neighbor should keep her pets in her home and yard. I have a neighbor who lets her dogs roam wherever from 6 am to about 9 pm, when she puts them in her garage.
Essentially abandoning your pets like that is just as cruel as what this guy did…
It sounds like the tuna was on his property. Apparently these people’s animals were too. There’s a lot of dangerous things sometimes on other people’s property. The way to avoid your pet being caught up in any of them is to take care of your pets and supervise them.
“It sounds like the tuna was on his property. “
Poisoned-laced tuna.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.