January 31, 2024
Miami Woman Arrested After Reportedly Cutting Dog’s Neck ‘Several Times’
Elena Barakova Cowan told police that she “had a dream that required her to complete a sacrifice to the gods to save humanity.”
A Miami woman was arrested last week after she used a knife to cut her pet dog multiple times in the neck. Police officers picked her up after a two-month investigation into the alleged crime that was committed in November 2023. According to Local 10, law enforcement arrested 37-year-old Elena Barakova Cowan of Edgewater and charged her with a felony animal cruelty charge.
She is accused of cutting the neck of her dog, Sparky, “several times.” She told police officers that she did so because she was told to do it in her dream. She was taken into custody on Friday, Jan. 26.
According to an arrest report, Cowan took Sparky to a veterinarian on Nov. 14, and after the visit, police officers visited Cowan. She told the officer that, after “she had not had any sleep in approximately four days,” she “had a dream that required her to complete a sacrifice to the gods to save humanity.” After having that dream, she awakened from her sleep and went into her kitchen, where she grabbed a knife and “cut the dog’s neck several times.”
The report stated that the dog suffered at least two superficial cuts and two other wounds that were “deeper and overlapping.” The dog survived the attack and was not returned to Cowan but was taken to Miami-Dade Animal Services, where Sparky was later adopted.
Cowan now faces a second-degree felony charge of animal cruelty with intent to injure or kill. According to Miami-Dade jail records, Cowan, a Bulgarian national, is no longer listed as a prisoner. There is also no other information on whether there are any bail arrangements, or if she was released on her own recognizance, or if she has retained a lawyer.
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