A Florida Keys woman was arrested after authorities say she strangled her pet Chihuahua to death for biting her hand.
Alice Evans, 61, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of aggravated cruelty to animals, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said.
Officials said Evans, of Marathon, told staff at Fishermen’s Hospital on Saturday that she'd killed her dog, a 12-year-old Chihuahua named Big John Evans, officials said.
Deputies and an officer from the SPCA went to Evans' home, where Evans said the dog had started becoming aggressive toward her and had bitten her for the third time this year, officials said. Deputies said they saw a small wound on her hand.
Evans said she had choked the dog to death with his collar and buried it in her yard, authorities said. She had no answer when asked why she didn't call an animal shelter for help with the dog, officials said.
Authorities dug up the Chihuahua's body and it was taken to the Marathon Veterinary hospital, where a necropsy confirmed the cause of death to be strangulation, officials said. The death would have resulted in "the infliction of pain, suffering and injury," authorities said.
Evans was booked into jail and was being held on $25,000 bond, authorities said. Attorney information wasn't immediately available.
