DANIA BEACH, Fla. — A Dania Beach woman was arrested Monday in connection with the death of a dog that authorities say was found inside her apartment late last year.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect in an arrest affidavit as 39-year-old Vanessa Collada.

Deputies said she lived in an apartment near the 3700 block of Southwest 60th Terrace with her children and, at one point, her boyfriend.

According to the affidavit, a property manager checked on the unit on Nov. 1, 2024, and discovered a brownish-reddish dog dead inside a crate.

“He said the apartment smelled like a dead body from the deceased dog,” a deputy wrote in the report.

“The property manager told police that the dog was curled into a ball, its spinal column and rib cage were visible,” the affidavit states. “The dog was also covered in maggots which fell off the dog’s body as it began to defrost as photographs were being taken.”

Authorities said a veterinarian later told deputies the dog had plastic and other foreign material in its stomach and died “because of the emaciated condition” it was in.

Investigators said they believe Collada was the last person with the dog before it was found dead. They said she was the sole renter of the apartment and admitted she got the dog from a friend for her children.

Authorities allege Collada “failed to act by leaving it locked in a crate in an empty apartment, which resulted in the cruel death of the dog.”

Jail records show she is facing one count of aggravated animal cruelty while causing cruel death, pain and suffering to an animal.

As of Tuesday, she was being held without bond at the Broward Main Jail.

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