Middletown woman faces animal cruelty charges
A Middletown MIDDLETOWN — woman has been jailed and charged with felony animal cruelty after several dead animals were found in her backyard, according to the Butler County Sheriff ’s Office.
The county dog warden’s office received information last week advising that there were dead dogs in the yard at the residence in the 1300 block of Oxford State Road.
Four dogs were observed by the humane officers when they arrived on Friday. Two of the dogs were found in dog houses and another one was found in a black plastic tote along with a decapitated dog’s head, according to the sheriff ’s office. The owner, Tina Marie Jackson, said she ran out of dog food and she never provided bedding in the dog houses to keep the dogs warm.
Necropsies were conducted on all four dogs, and three were found to have no food in their stomachs, and the cause of death was ruled starvation. There could not be any determination on cause of death of dog with the severed head due to lack of evidence in the specimen.
“I am beside myself,” said Sheriff Richard Jones. “Owning one animal and treating it like trash is appalling but this woman had four. I am disgusted that these poor animals suffered and I am glad Ms. Jackson is behind bars.”
Jackson, 39, was arrested and charged with three counts of felony animal cruelty to companion animals.
This marks the third person in five months charged with felony animal cruelty.
In January, Melissa Damico, 46, of St. Clair Twp. was arrested on multiple charges after allegedly neglecting dogs in the bitter cold.
Damico was arrested Jan. 7 after a welfare check was conducted at 3700 Morganthaler Road in St. Clair Twp. by county humane officers, who found three dogs deceased due to neglect and cold weather, while four other dogs were found alive but severely malnourished. Damico is free on bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 27.
In September, Kevin L. Sullivan, 32, of Howard Avenue in Middletown, was charged with felony animal cruelty after he allegedly set a cat on fire. Sullivan’s bond of $50,000 set by the judge last week was continued.