Two Kasilof residents have been arrested after Alaska State Troopers say they left a number of dogs outdoors in recent subzero temperatures, with considered one of them freezing to demise.
Troopers say Heather Harris, 36, and Harley Potter, 42, every face two felony counts of cruelty to animals.
According to charging paperwork within the case, troopers received a name in late January about uncared for dogs at a property in Kasilof. The caller believed the residents had moved out and left dogs behind. Troopers visited the home, which appeared deserted, and located a useless canine inside a kennel with a sequence affixing it to a tree within the yard.
In the times previous to the investigation, troopers mentioned Kasilof-area low temperatures had constantly handed 15 levels beneath zero.
The authentic caller supplied pictures of one other canine on the property, additionally emaciated. A neighbor additionally advised troopers that eight dogs and a litter of puppies had been rescued from the home a day earlier.
A veterinarian from Twin Cities Veterinary Clinic in Soldotna carried out an examination of the canine that had died, and found it was a young male. She decided the canine was in any other case wholesome, and certain died of malnourishment and hypothermia.
“AST later learned the dog’s name was Lee,” troopers mentioned in an online dispatch in regards to the case.
Several days later, troopers mentioned they contacted Harris and Potter, the property’s residents, at a unique tackle. Harris allegedly advised a trooper that they had visited their home a couple of days in the past and observed the dogs have been gone, and recognized one of many rescue dogs as hers from {a photograph}.
Harris and Potter have been initially held on the Wildwood Correctional Center. Each animal-cruelty depend carries a penalty of as much as $50,000 and 5 years in jail.
