Florida woman who tried to drown dog won't be prosecuted

A 71-year-old woman accused of trying to drown her dog last summer in a Volusia County inlet won't be charged, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. However, she also won't be getting her dog back.

Marilynne Elsie Jones, 71, told the News-Journal that she loved Gracie, her 11-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel. "I would never want Gracie to die," Jones said in the interview.

She said the witness to the alleged incident at a park lied about claims that she held Gracie under water. A report on the August incident says witnesses performed CPR on the dog before it regained consciousness.

The witness claims were embellished, the State Attorney's Office later discovered. Nevertheless, Jones has not been allowed to visit the dog, which will be placed in another home. Jones also was ordered to pay a $1,700 veterinary bill for the dog's care.

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