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SPCA employee indicted for animal cruelty
By Stephanie Flemmons, Staff Writer
An animal protection clinic supervisor was indicted for cruelty to animals after police found a 5-month-old puppy left for dead inside the employee’s flooded apartment with no electricity.
The German Shepherd mix, Bruce, was found by police March 24. The dog was secured inside a crate located in a dark laundry room surrounded by feces.
Alicia Marie Martin, 23, was arrested for cruelty to animals April 17. She posted a $1,500 bond on May 5 and was placed in Frisco police custody for outstanding traffic citations, according to jail records.
“It’s a horrific scene because we know what the animals go through to get to this point,” said Jamey Cantrell, Animal Services manager. “It’s something you don’t want anything or anyone to go through. He was left to die.”
An animal services vet ruled that Bruce’s cause of death was starvation. Cantrell said the dog was left inside the crate without food or water for about two weeks.
A Plano officer said it appeared that the resident grabbed what she could and abandoned the apartment, located at 2821 Townbluff Drive, without taking her dog.
“The SPCA of Texas’ Rescue & Investigations team was not involved in any investigation of animal cruelty in this case,” said Maura Davies, SPCA spokeswoman. “As this individual is an ex-employee, the SPCA of Texas cannot release personnel information.”
During a police interview prior to her arrest, Martin said she checked into a hotel with her 2-year-old daughter because her electricity had been turned off for non-payment. She told police she checked on Bruce everyday after work and believed he was eating. Martin said Bruce was losing an excessive amount of weight 3-4 weeks before he died. She believed he had Parvo, but thought he would get better. Martin said she consulted a veterinarian at the SPCA clinic where she worked as a supervisor and was told to change the dog’s food.
When police contacted the SPCA vet and inquired whether Martin consulted her regarding the failing health of her dog, she was unsure which dog the police were referring to due to the amount of dogs Martin had adopted at various times. She told police Martin asked her months prior what to feed her dog to gain weight, but never asked her questions about a sick dog.
Martin said she last fed Bruce on March 17. She said she did not take him to the SPCA clinic where she worked because she was “embarrassed at how skinny he was” and she “didn’t want them to think she couldn’t take care of her dog,” according to court records.
Police contacted Martin’s supervisor at the SPCA, and she provided them with documentation of Bruce’s adoption and the neuter surgery on Jan. 24. The supervisor told police she had seen Bruce many times because Martin would bring him to work, but they had to ask her to stop due to lack of kennel space. The supervisor said she recently asked about Bruce and Martin advised her that Bruce had gone to live with her aunt. The supervisor told police she was not surprised by Martin’s answer because she was known to care for her pets for a short time before giving them away.
According to court records, the supervisor was visibly upset when she learned Bruce was left for dead, stated she does not know how Martin could have allowed this to happen after all the extreme abuse cases she had seen and worked. She said SPCA employees receive a 50 percent discount on vet services and she would have allowed Martin to pay out fees overtime.
If found guilty of cruelty to animals, Martin could face up to one year in prison and ordered to pay a fine not to exceed $1,500.
According to court records, Martin was placed on probation for two counts of possession of a controlled substance in 2007.
Contact Stephanie Flemmons at sflemmons@acnpapers.com
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