A New Orleans woman was booked on two counts of animal cruelty after SPCA humane officers found she was allegedly starving her dogs. Jacinta Stewart, of 1327 St. Roch Ave., was arrested Monday. In response to a complaint, the LA/SPCA visited Stewart's home July 14 and found four dogs, three of them pit bulls, in squalid conditions.
Stewart said they were her brother's dogs, but he was jailed and she was caring for them. At the time, she surrendered one dog to the humane officer, saying that it was "mean."
She was given until July 25 to provide proof of a rabies vaccination and take the remaining dogs to the veterinarian for basic care. On July 22, humane officers made a surprise visit and discovered that Stewart hadn't fed the dogs or given them water since July 14. One of the dogs had died.
The two remaining pit bulls were impounded by the officers and euthanized because they were in such poor health. "The argument just doesn't make any sense," said Chief Humane Officer Kathryn Destreza. "When our officers visited Ms. Stewart on the 14th, she had the opportunity to surrender the dogs to our care without any penalty. It's hard for me to understand how she could make a conscious decision to keep the dogs in her care, but then choose to leave them out in the scorching summer sun without even water, watching them suffer instead." References« Back to Search Results 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.
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