Animal Abuse: Dogs abandoned in home, muzzles taped - Johnston, RI

Cruelty Database » Case Details

Case Snapshot

Case ID: 14688

Classification: Neglect / Abandonment

Animal: dog (pit-bull)

More cases in Providence County, RI

More cases in RI

« Back to Search Results

Login to Watch this Case

Attorneys/Judges

Judge(s):

Jeanne E. LaFazia

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.

Dogs abandoned in home, muzzles taped
Johnston, RI (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Oct 3, 2008
County: Providence

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Diana Tetrault

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

According to police, Diana Tetrault, 20, muzzled her two pit bulls with tape and left them in her apartment without food or water last week.

Neighbors called animal control after they heard the dogs whimpering inside the apartment, said Johnston Police Major Ralph Bubar, III. They told officers they hadn't seen anyone visit Tetrault's Osgood Avenue apartment for two days.

Upon arriving, officers found two pit bulls, their mouths taped up, and no one home. After some investigating, the dogs' owner was found at the hospital, having just given birth to a baby boy. Police say she had taped the dogs up to keep them from barking before going to the hospital.

Tetrault is charged with two counts of animal cruelty and is schedule to appear in District Court in Warwick Wednesday morning.

Case Updates

A 20-year-old woman pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges after authorities accused her of muzzling her two pit bulls and abandoning them in an apartment before she went to a hospital to give birth.

Judge Jeanne E. LaFazia in District Court, Warwick, ordered Diana Tetrault to have a mental-health screening and released her on $2,000 personal recognizance, according to a clerk.

Tetrault is scheduled to return to District Court on Oct. 24 for a pretrial conference.

Johnston's animal control officer found one of the pit bulls leashed to a closet door in Tetrault's second-floor apartment on Sept. 26, according to police Maj. Ralph Bubar III. At the time Tetrault was in Women & Infants Hospital after having given birth.

The other pit bull was caged in the kitchen at 28 Osgood Ave., he said. Neither animal had food or water, he said.

At the time, residents in the apartment house said they hadn't seen anyone visit the second-floor apartment since the morning of Sept. 23.

The two dogs remain in the custody of the Johnston Police Department, which placed them at the Providence Animal Rescue League.

The Department of Children Youth and Families received notification of Tetrault's arrest and the alleged abuse.

Source: The Providence Journal - Oct 9, 2008
Update posted on Oct 11, 2008 - 3:00AM

Back to Top

References

- Oct 8, 2008

« Back to Search Results
« RI State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Providence County, RI

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.

Site Map ¤ Disclaimer ¤ Privacy Policy

Dogs abandoned in home, muzzles tapedJohnston, RI (US)

Case Updates

References

Dogs abandoned in home, muzzles taped
Johnston, RI (US)