By JOEL PHELPS The Arkadelphian
The decaying bodies of three German Shepherds were discovered in a South Arkansas home after neighbors requested deputies to check on a residence. The canines’ owner would be arrested on charges of animal cruelty.
According to a police report filed recently at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were summoned June 12 for a welfare check on a residence at Fall Circle, located in the DeGray community west of Arkadelphia. Police observed the stench of death as they approached the front door, and noted that flies were swarming the windows from inside the residence. One dead dog was seen in a bedroom as police looked through a window.
While authorities were on scene, a postal carrier arrived and said the resident hadn’t received mail in approximately two months, and another person at the scene reported seeing the resident at her workplace, just a few days prior. The property manager would later arrive with a key to let police in the home.
Inside, deputies observed feces “all over the residence” along with three deceased canines. Their corpses were “very much deteriorated,” according to the police report.
The next day, 27-year-old Breanna Redmond was arrested on three counts of animal cruelty. “She basically walked off and didn’t come back” to the residence, Sheriff Jason Watson said. While there was food in the house, the sheriff said the dogs could not access it. According to Watson, Redmond “provided very little reason as to why she abandoned the animals.”
After an interview with police, Redmond was booked into the local jail facility and later released.
In Arkansas, a person commits animal cruelty when he or she “knowingly subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment.” The statute includes abandoning an animal at a location without providing for the animal’s continued care.
The offense is an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or a jail sentence of up to one year. Watson said he intends to ask for the maximum punishment for each of the three charges.
Aggravated cruelty to an animal becomes a felony when a person “knowingly tortures” any dog, cat or equine.
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Abandoning animals in a house with food they don’t have access to should definitely be classified aggravated cruelty, especially dogs that can smell food inside a sealed, airtight container. This sorry excuse for a human should not get off with a mere $1000 fine and only one year in prison.
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Is Arkansas ever going to get with the program? Misdemeanor? Are you @#$%&^@ kidding me? Why is this not a felony in Arkansas???? Why not charges that fit the crime? She deserved a life sentence times three.