Middletown owner of decapitated dog indicted for felony animal cruelty

IN-DEPTH: Frozen and abandoned dogs have saddened the community. Here’s how dog wardens try to protect them.

Humane officers found four dead dogs on the property Feb. 16. Two of the dogs were found in dog houses, another one was found in a black plastic tote along with a decapitated dog’s head, according to the sheriff’s office.

Jackson said she ran out of dog food and she never provided bedding in the dog houses to keep the dogs warm. She did not offer an explanation for the decapitated dog.

Necropsies, which are autopsies performed on animals, were conducted on all four dogs. Three dogs were found to have no food in their stomachs, and the cause of death was ruled starvation.

No cause of death was determined for the dog with the severed head due to lack of evidence, officials said.

MORE: Law change makes animal cruelty a felony in Ohio

Jackson is free on $5,000 bond. She is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on the indictments.

“It’s just so frustrating because we offer so many ways to help and still people don’t get it,” Butler County Dog Warden Supervisor Kurt Merbs said after Jackson’s arrest. “We’re still getting these calls of dogs starving to death.”

The surviving dogs found at Jackson’s home were taken to Animal Friends Humane Society for treatment and were scheduled to be put up for adoption.