Martin County - Thursday June 20, 2024: Martin County Sheriff Office (MCSO) Detectives have arrested and charged the owner of a Palm City animal boarding and training facility with felony animal cruelty. Additional charges are expected.
35 year old Nikki Camerlengo, the owner of Pawsitively Paradise, was arrested after necropsies on dogs that were in her care should that they had died from blunt force trauma. Her arrest follows months of investigating the suspicious and untimely deaths of dogs left in the care.
Martin County Criminal Investigation Detective Christine Polizzi spent weeks trying to determine why Beau, a 2-year-old Cavapoo puppy; Flurie, a 15-year-old Goldendoodle; and Mako, a 2-year-old Flat Coat Retriever, all of which were in the sole care of Nikki Camerlengo at different times for training, boarding, or grooming, suddenly died without explanation. All of the dogs were in good health prior to being taken to Pawsitively Paradise.
Detective Polizzi worked closely with ASPCA forensic experts at labs in Florida, then a second lab in Texas, where MCSO sent the remains of Beau and Flurie to be examined.
Even though the dogs were in the care of Camerlengo one month apart, the report revealed that Beau’s injuries were severe and included blows to the neck, chest, belly, and private areas causing hemorrhaging to the brain. Flurie also died from acute hemorrhaging of the brain. Mako, who mysteriously died in 2022, drowned on his own vomit, according to a private necropsy completed by the family after his death.
Because so much time had passed, MCSO could not send his remains to experts to determine what caused him to aspirate and die. Forensic experts revealed that the dogs did not die quickly, instead they succumbed to long and painful deaths.
Since media reports surfaced about MCSO’s investigation into Camerlengo, multiple other reports emerged about healthy dogs, mostly dogs under four years old, mysteriously dying or becoming severely injured while in Nikki Camerlengo's care. Some dating back several years. Due to a lack of medical records, because the dogs were cremated or the deaths initially went unreported, MCSO could not include them in our criminal investigation.
Martin County Sheriff Detectives, with the assistance of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, located and arrested Camerlengo in Ft. Pierce, where she moved her dog training and boarding business after MCSO opened a criminal investigation into the deaths. Because Camerlengo was arrested in Ft. Pierce, she was taken to the St. Lucie County Jail.
As part of a special bond condition, a Martin County Judge ordered that Camerlengo not possess or be responsible for any animals until further order of the court.
