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3 Arrests Follow Seizure Of 77 Dogs In Riverview

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By JOSH POLTILOVE

jpoltilove@tampatrib.com

Published: November 6, 2008

  Patricia Walters

RIVERVIEW - This was anything but a "happy puppy place," investigators said.

That's how promotional T-shirts describe PM Tinies, a Riverview business that buys and sells small-breed dogs such as Yorkshire terriers and Chihuahuas.

But inside the business at 13605 U.S. Highway 301, authorities found dozens of animals living in squalor.

"It's disgusting," Hillsborough County Animal Services spokesman Marti Ryan said Wednesday of the scene. "There is feces and urine strewn through a home where people sit and read and live. It's a horrible existence for the animals and not particularly healthy for people. It's not a nice place to spend your morning."

Seventy-seven dogs were confiscated, and three people were arrested.

An anonymous tip led investigators to the scene.

One of those arrested was the business owner, Patricia Martin Walters. It wasn't immediately clear what roles the other two played, authorities said. They were Daniel Hickman and Elaine Cave, Ryan said.

The three were booked into Orient Road Jail.

Walters, 73, has been charged with 41 counts of confinement of animals without food and water and 41 counts of animal cruelty. Her bail was set at $41,000.

Cave, 69, and Hickman, 41, each were charged with 36 counts of confinement of animals without food and water and 36 counts of animal cruelty. Cave's and Hickman's bail was set at $36,000 each.

The dogs will receive medical evaluations, including treatment for parasites.

They also will get food and water.

"Some are very antisocial because they're not used to being anything other than a breeding machine," Ryan said. "They haven't been given much kindness from people."

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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