3 Decomposing Pets Found Inside Flea-Infested FL Home; Animal Cruelty Charges Filed

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Three decomposing pets and one live but flea-infested cat were found in a St. Petersburg home on Saturday, authorities said.

Keith Robertson, 55, was charged with four counts of animal cruelty, St. Petersburg police said in a news release.

Officers and Pinellas County Animal Services responded to his home on 44th Avenue NE on Saturday after a neighbor complained about possible animal neglect.

Inside the home, they found two cats and a dog in advanced stages of decomposition, police said.
A third cat was found alive, but seemed starved and infested with fleas.

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Animal Services took possession of the surviving cat for treatment.

Robertson told police that a flea infestation caused the deaths of his animals — a dog named Newman and two cats named Mama and Strizzy - and he was too embarrassed to seek help, Fox 13 reported. Wolfe is the surviving cat.

He’s being held at Pinellas County Jail on a $20,000 bail, records show.

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