CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – A woman was arrested Wednesday after authorities say she abandoned seven reptiles in a Coral Springs apartment last year, leading to the deaths of five of them.
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The first incident occurred when Coral Springs police said officers responded to a trespassing call at an apartment on Ramblewood Drive in September 2024.
According to authorities, MAA Coral Springs, the property management company of the apartment complex, notified police that a former tenant had vacated the unit days earlier.
When staff entered, they found Laura Lee Fritter, of Pompano Beach, her boyfriend, and a dog inside, the report stated.
Police said the apartment was in deplorable condition, covered in trash and animal feces.
While inside, officers said they found seven reptiles — six appearing to be dead — without food or water.
The surviving animal, a malnourished Savannah monitor lizard, was caged without food or water, according to an arrest report.
Among the deceased reptiles were three frogs, a white python inside a closed container, and a brown reticulated python, investigators said.
Investigators determined the apartment had been leased to Fritter’s mother-in-law, who allowed Laura and her husband, Joshua Fritter, to live there with their three children.
Police said Joshua Fritter was arrested in May on child abuse charges, leaving Laura Fritter in possession of the apartment and the animals. Property management officials said she vacated the unit on Sept. 9, 2024.
Fritter was arrested Wednesday on seven counts of animal abandonment, according to jail records.
As of Thursday, she is being held on a $1,750 bond at the Broward Sheriff’s Office North Broward Bureau.