A woman in Florida has been charged after her landlord’s cleaning crew found a dog barely alive in a plastic bin inside of a bathtub when she was being evicted.
The case started in March 2024 when Dr. Anita Damodaran’s landlord hired three people to clean the apartment she had vacated. The cleaners said they found the dog, named Betty, inside the plastic bin. The dog’s hair was matted and she was extremely malnourished, officials with the Hinsdale Humane Society near Chicago said. The animal rescue said Betty was only able to breathe through a small hole in the bin’s lid, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The cleaners took the dog to an animal hospital for treatment.
“She had impact sores all over, urine burns, her fur was extremely matted, and she was probably surviving on her own feces,” John Garrido, from the Stray Rescue Foundation, told WFLD.
Chicago police issued a warrant for Damodaran, who was finally arrested in December at her Tampa, Florida, home by Hillsborough County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office.
Advocates said Damodaran claimed the dog was her parents’ and that she didn’t know she was in the bin, WFLD reported.
Damodaran was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, with prosecutors saying she did not feed the dog, give it water or other necessities, and allowed it to become emaciated, WBBM reported.
She was in court last week where a judge denied the prosecutor’s detention request but was ordered to stay in Illinois.
Betty has recovered and is in a new home, WFLD reported.
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