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Letter to the editor

Woman charged after cats found dead

Two cats had been left alone for at least two weeks.

By THERESA BLACKWELL, Times Staff Writer
Published December 11, 2007

CLEARWATER - Through the window, workers saw flies circling in the apartment at 2545 NE Coachman Road.

A neighbor hadn't seen the woman who lived there in a month.

So officials from Town Place Apartments called Clearwater police.

When officers arrived Dec. 4, the occupant wasn't there and her two cats were dead. It appeared no water or food had been left for them, police said.

Police issued a warrant for the apartment's occupant, Ashley Lyn Maquet, 24. She turned herself in Monday at the county jail and was charged with a felony count of animal cruelty.

"It's a serious charge," Clearwater public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts said Monday.

She said police found animal feces throughout the apartment. One of the cats had bite marks on it from the other cat.

Did Maquet have any explanation?

She could not be reached for comment Monday. But she told investigators she hadn't been to the apartment in two weeks, Daly-Watts said. Maquet said she asked someone whose last name she didn't know to take care of the cats and left the door open for him.

"But when we went to do the welfare check, the door was locked," Daly-Watts said.

Maquet was released Monday afternoon on $5,000 bail.

Times researchers Angie Drobnic Holan and Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Theresa Blackwell can be reached at tblackwell@sptimes.com or 727 445-4170.

[Last modified December 10, 2007, 20:39:55]