LAKE WORTH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A Lake Worth woman faces 11 animal cruelty and neglect charges, one for each of the 11 dogs investigators pulled from her mobile home — several of them nearly emaciated. Leslie Ann Torres, 34, was arrested Wednesday on seven counts of aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony, and four misdemeanor counts of animal abandonment, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit obtained by BocaNewsNow.com.
Deputies went to the home on West Mayaguana Lane on Aug. 22 to serve an unrelated warrant on a juvenile and found about a dozen dogs living in what the affidavit describes as unsafe, unsanitary conditions. They called in Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control. Officers found two rusted wire cages stacked in a dark hallway, with roughly four dogs crammed into the larger one and three in the smaller one. No accessible food or water bowls were in either cage, the affidavit states, and blankets and clothing inside were soaked with urine and feces. The floor of the larger cage held two to three inches of compacted waste, and the debris removed from it weighed 20.2 pounds. One animal control sergeant reported the ammonia smell was strong enough to irritate his eyes.
A veterinarian examined all 11 dogs before they were cleaned or groomed. She documented alleged painful urine scalding, heavy flea infestations, matted fur with feces embedded in it, anemia, internal parasites, dehydration and malnutrition.
In a recorded Sept. 9 interview, Torres waived her Miranda rights and admitted several of the dogs were kept in the cages during the workday and overnight, according to the affidavit. Investigators also noted that when animal control officers re-entered the home on Aug. 22, some feces and garbage had been moved and portions of the floor were wet, which they said indicated Torres knew about the conditions.
She allegedly voluntarily signed a form surrendering the 11 dogs to Animal Care and Control. Torres was arrested and later released on $39,000 bond.
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