2 dogs left in basement, abandoned - both die
Denver, CO (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Feb 11, 2006
County: Arapahoe
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Natasha M. Rice
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A Denver woman is accused of cruelty to animals after deputies found two dead dogs in a basement on March 13, 2006, Denver television station KMGH reported. Natasha Rice, 20, allegedly left two dogs in the basement of the home after she moved out on Feb. 11, 2006. Rice told sheriff's deputies that she thought the Humane Society was going to pick up the dogs, but the Humane Society said it was never contacted by Rice.
Deputies said they found the dead dogs in a basement with a chair propped against the door. Authorities think the dogs may have been left alone for weeks and died some time ago. There was no food or water left in the room. "What they must have suffered," said Joanne Wilkinson, a neighbor. "Any of us would have taken those dogs and found them a good home. All she had to do was ask for help."
Rice faces a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals. She faces a possible sentence of six to 18 months in jail or a fine of $500 to $5,000.
Case Updates| A 21-year-old woman who allegedly left her dogs locked in a basement to die when she moved out of her rental house is now facing more serious charges. On April 21, 2006, Arapahoe County prosecutors announced that Natasha Rice will face two felony charges of aggravated cruelty to animals, not a misdemeanor charge. | Source: ABC7 News - April 21, 2006
Update posted on Apr 23, 2006 - 11:16AM |
Two national animal rights groups are asking that an Aurora woman accused of leaving two dogs in a basement to starve to death be given jail time if convicted of animal cruelty. "Too often, people who are convicted of crimes against animals walk out of court with a slap on the wrist," said Dan Paden, a researcher for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA and The Humane Society of the United States have sent letters to Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers urging serious penalties, including counseling, jail and a ban on owning animals for Natasha Rice, 20, of Aurora.
Rice was cited March 13, 2006 with a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty after Arapahoe County deputies found two dead dogs in Rice's former home at 3749 S. Nepal Court. They had gone to the home as part of an eviction. Allegedly, no food or water had been left for the animals and a chair had been propped against the basement door to keep it closed.
Kathleen Walsh, spokeswoman for the Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office, said Chambers has reviewed the letters. According to the summons issued to Rice, she told investigators that she called the Humane Society to pick up the dogs when she moved out Feb. 12, 2006. She admitted, however, that she did not pay the $35 fee for the service and that she never made a follow-up call. Mary Warren, executive director for the Humane Society, said Rice never contacted them. "That didn't happen," she said.
Warren said the Humane Society does not arrange to pick up animals, especially from a locked vacant home. "We can't come into your house," she said.
Contacted last week at her new home, Rice said, "I don't want to talk about it," and closed her door. The two animals tried desperately to escape, according to Leslie De Hoyos, an Arapahoe County animal control officer who was called to Rice's former home. De Hoyos said she found Cujo, a 1 1/2-year-old male Chihuahua, at the bottom of the basement stairs, and Titan, a 1 1/2-year-old male shepherd mix, about 10 feet from Cujo. "They were just skin and bones," she said. "The muscle mass was gone. The body fat was gone." She estimated that Cujo weighed only 2 pounds and Titan about 30 pounds when found - both about half of what they should have weighed. The unfinished basement gave mute testimony to how the dogs spent their last days, De Hoyos said. "The door was pretty scratched up and chewed through," she said. "They were trying to get out, but there was a chair shoved under the the handle of the basement door at the top of the stairs." De Hoyos also said that there was little evidence that any food or water was left. She said that the basement floor was covered with feces and what appeared to be vomit with bits of insulation in it. "Every wall that had insulation was chewed up," she said. "They were trying to survive." De Hoyos described the conditions at the house as "nauseating." "This is the first time I walked into something like this. It was pretty gut-wrenching emotionally. It's hard to understand how humans can do that to helpless animals," she said. | Source: Rocky Mountain News - March 27, 2006
Update posted on Mar 29, 2006 - 7:04PM |
References« CO State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Arapahoe County, CO
|
