Overview

• Craig Vogt, 61, of Hudson was arrested Sept. 23 and charged with third-degree aggravated animal cruelty, according to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office affidavit.
• Deputies say Vogt left a letter in his neighbor's mailbox claiming he killed and ate two of his pet peacocks to "prove a point" over her feeding them.
• He admitted to cutting the birds' necks, bleeding them out and cooking them in a frying pan, and told deputies he would keep killing peacocks if the feeding continued.
• While being transported to jail, Vogt said he planned to kill his remaining peacocks upon release; he remains in custody at the Land O' Lakes Detention Center with a court-appointed public defender.
• Peacocks are non-native in Florida but covered by the state's anti-cruelty law, and court records and reporting note Vogt's lengthy history of more than 40 prior Pasco County charges.