Pet sitter charged with animal cruelty
Lee, NC (US)Incident Date: Monday, Aug 27, 2007
County: Lee
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Dismissed
Person of Interest: Summer Ann Roberson
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
A Lee County couple is in mourning after losing two dogs in a violent death.
Katherine and Darrin Alford loved their dogs as children. You can imagine the couple's horror when two-days into their Las Vegas vacation, their pet sitter calls saying two of their five dogs are dead - killed by their own black lab.
"We are in the desert and she is screaming saying, 'Bitsy and Chess are dead, Ramsey killed them,'" Katherine described to Eyewitness News reporter Greg Barnes.
Alford raised Bitsy and Chess, two rat terriers, from birth. The real heartbreak unfolded when the Alford's raced home and tried to get some answers.
Katherine says they discovered the two small terriers, the chocolate lab and another dog had been locked in a bathroom with no water or food. She doesn't know for how long. Katherine says her brother and father-in-law cleaned up the bathroom before they got home.
A report by Lee County Animal Control officers states one of the smaller dogs may have been partially eaten based on pictures taken of the scene.
"I can't sleep at night because I am haunted by the thought of what they went through in that room it makes me sick!" Katherine said.
The Alford's says the pet sitter has gotten a lawyer and isn't talking to them. They say there is a painful lesson learned here - one they hope other pet owner never have to endure. "The only thing I would say in the future is I would have a neighbor watch my house I would have a set call time. I would have an absolute schedule. You don't answer the phone, I'm calling the police," Katherine said.
Late Friday Lee County deputies confirmed to Eyewitness News the pet sitter, Summer Ann Roberson, was served with a criminal summons for animal cruelty.
A court hearing has been set for September 11.
Case UpdatesOn November 6th, a District Court judge dismissed animal cruelty and neglect charges against a dog sitter charged with animal cruelty after a dog she was caring for killed and partially ate two smaller dogs also in her care.
Summer Roberson, 29, had been charged in August following an incident in which two dogs in her care were killed and partially eaten by a third when they were closed in a small bathroom.
The owners of the dogs, Katherine and Darren Alford of Sanford, had one charge of animal cruelty brought against Roberson by a county
magistrate after officers with the Sanford Police Department declined to get involved. The district attorney's office brought the other five counts later.
Roberson, who is a veterinary technician at N.C. State University and was hired by the Alfords to watch their five dogs while they vacationed, was cleared of the charges when Judge Addie Rawls granted a motion by the defense to dismiss the charges due to a lack of evidence.
The Alfords had contended that three of the dogs - a chocolate lab and two rat terriers - had been locked in a small bathroom without
food or water for up to 20 hours. Roberson contended that the dogs accidentally became closed in the bathroom after they
were left in the master bedroom while she was gone - which is what the Alfords had instructed her to do.
During the course of the trial, two city police officers and a Lee County Animal Control officer all testified that they didn't see any evidence of a crime at the Alfords' home on Lord Ashley Drive. Roberson's attorney, Jonathan Silverman, said that while the circumstances were tragic, they did not amount to a crime.
"I certainly understand that the Alfords felt a great deal of pain and anguish," he said. "None of us would want to come home and find
something like that - but not everything bad that happens in the universe is a crime. I think that's particularly true in this case."
The case at times got nasty - a message board at a Web site the Alfords set up dedicated to the case had been filled with angry exchanges between supporters of Roberson and supporters of the Alfords. Messages on the Web site also indicated that the Alfords were contemplating a civil action against Roberson, although Katherine Alford denied that in court.
The Alfords also placed a large banner in their yard with the phrase "Justice for Bitsy and Chess," the two dogs that were killed, displayed prominently.
Roberson declined comment after the trial. | Source: The Sanford Herald
Update posted on Dec 14, 2007 - 1:15PM |
Court contact information for this case is as follows:
Lee County Courthouse
1400 South Horner Blvd.
Sandford, NC 27330
Phone: 919-708-4407
Fax: 919-775-3483
Prosecutor:
The Honorable Mike Beam
P. O. Box 4209
Sandford, NC 27330
Phone: 919-708-4430
Fax: 919-708-4426
Judge:
The Honorable Ms. Addie Rawls
Chief District Judicial Officer
P. O. Box 811
Smithfield, NC 27577-0811
Phone: 919-934-1231
Fax: 919-934-5788 | Source: Case #: 07CR4257, 07CR4258, 07CR4259, 07CR4260, 07CR4262
Update posted on Oct 6, 2007 - 10:31PM |
A Sanford woman accused of neglecting the dogs she was hired to care for is facing additional animal cruelty charges.
Summer Ann Roberson, 29, was hired last month by Katherine Alford to look after five dogs and a cat for six days at Alford's home on Lord Ashley Drive, Alford said.
While Alford was away, two of her rat terriers - Bitsy and Chess - were killed by one of Alford's other dogs, Ramsey, a Labrador retriever.
Alford said she believes Roberson locked the three dogs in a bathroom without any food or water for an extended period of time.
Roberson told an animal control officer she did place the animals in the bathroom, but only for an hour, according to a Lee County Animal Control report.
The District Attorney's Office in Lee County charged Roberson on Sept. 11 with three misdemeanor counts each of cruelty to animals and abandonment of animals.
She had previously been served a criminal summons for one count of animal cruelty.
According to Alford, Roberson was recommended by her veterinarian.
Roberson's initial court date of Sept. 11 was continued to Sept. 25. | Source: Fayetteville Observer - Sept 18, 2007
Update posted on Sep 18, 2007 - 12:39AM |
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