Tarpon Springs Police received a complaint on Friday, September 20, 2019 in reference to an animal cruelty incident that was captured on video by a witness/reporting person.
The incident occurred in the 800 block of Dodecanese Blvd. at approximately 10:45 a.m. The witness was dropping off his girlfriend, who works in the vicinity, when he witnessed the incident.
The investigating officer also learned that the witness’ girlfriend observed the same suspect and same dog, involved in the aforementioned incident, last night (Sept. 19, 2019), at approximately 7:30 p.m. in the same general vicinity. The suspect allegedly “threw” the dog “sideways” in a rough and aggressive manner into the suspect’s vehicle. The suspect is apparently transient and resides in her camper type vehicle with two dogs.
The witness had posted the video to social media prior to filing an incident report. The investigating officers viewed the video and observed the suspect walking the dog, who was attached to a leash. The suspect is seen kicking the animal and lifting up on the leash to the point the dog’s front two paws are lifted up off the ground and the animal appears to choke and gasp. The dog did not exhibit any behavior that warranted the suspect to treat the animal in this manner. According to the arrest affidavit, “the suspect stated that she was training the dog and that is why the choke collar was on for.”
The suspect, later identified as Michelle A. Sieber, 26 years old, was located in Clearwater this afternoon and arrested and charged with one count of felony animal cruelty and booked into the Pinellas County Jail. The two dogs are in the custody of animal control and the victim dog did not apparently sustain any injuries
Video of Incident as posted in Facebook
Bravo to the person who reported this to the police, Bravo to the police that made the arrest! People, when you see something say something! Innocent animals, people and children that can’t express themselves need our help.!