ORLANDO, Fla. — Body worn cameras were rolling when deputies arrested a North Central Florida woman as she returned from a Las Vegas vacation.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said 37-year-old Jessica Copeland left her teenaged son and dogs’ home alone in Palatka for two weeks while she hit the Las Vegas strip.
Concerned relatives called for help and deputies went to the home and talked to the teen, who said his mother had been gone for two weeks and that different people would come to the house to check on him and bring him food.
Deputies said they also found seven emaciated dogs in the home.
The officers said they found some of the dogs were covered in feces and had no food or water.
“The depravity of this situation is both heartbreaking and infuriating,” Sheriff H.D. ‘Gator’ DeLoach said. “A mother made the conscious choice to abandon her own child in a filth-ridden home, surrounded by the stench of animal feces and suffering of neglected animals while she indulged on a two-week birthday trip to Las Vegas. This wasn’t neglect. This was deliberate cruelty, both to her child and to the animals she left behind.”
The dogs were surrendered to Putnam County Animal Services. Veterinarians said when the dogs are well enough, they will be available for adoption.
“Let me be clear, our community will not tolerate this level of selfish disregard for human and animal life. She now has time for reflection,” DeLoach said.
Copeland is charged with felony child neglect, felony animal abuse and misdemeanor animal abuse.
She is being held on $36,000 bond at the Putnam County jail.
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