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Woman Allegedly Drowns Dog In The Bathtub Because She Was Sick Of Its Barking
Two to three minutes after Margaret Kinsella took her chocolate Labrador into the bathroom, an air conditioner maintenance worker says he heard loud screams. He opened the bathroom door to find Kinsella's dog “floating in the bathtub, he told authorities.
A Florida woman is facing animal cruelty charges after she allegedly admitted to drowning her Labrador in a bathtub because it kept barking and nipping her.
Margaret Kinsella, 43, allegedly told deputies that she had been depressed after the deaths of both her dad and husband and was fed up when she decided to put an end to her chocolate Labrador’s constant yapping and biting.
“I drowned my dog,” the Bradenton woman is quoted as saying about the Nov. 5 incident, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office probable cause affidavit reviewed by Oxygen.com.
Kinsella arrived at her home at around 2 p.m. while an air conditioner maintenance worker tended to her unit.
She first released her “adult brown Labrador” out of his kennel and went for a walk, a maintenance worker told authorities, according to the affidavit.
When she returned home, Kinsella allegedly led her pet into the bathroom.
Moments later, the worker said he heard “loud screaming” coming from both the woman and her dog.
The worker asked her if she needed any help, but she declined the offer, he told authorities.
Two to three minutes later the screams grew louder, and the worker opened the bathroom door to find the Labrador “floating in the bathtub,” the document states.
He pulled the dog from the tub, and set him down on the bathroom floor.
When authorities interviewed Kinsella, she allegedly confessed that she had “become so upset with her dog barking all the time and biting her” and said that her “anger had built up," according to the affidavit.
She also apparently blamed the losses of both her husband and father, saying they had brought on great anxiety and sent her into a depression, according to the affidavit.
Following the results of a necropsy, Kinsella was booked on Nov. 17 for aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony.
If convicted, she could face up to a $10,000 fine and possible prison time, according to the state statute.
Kinsella was released after posting $5,000 bond and is set to return to circuit court on Jan. 10, according to court records.
