- Michigan, USA -
The discovery of twenty-seven dogs in a minivan led to animal cruelty charges being filed against 41-years-old HEATHER NICOLE ALEXANDER (pictured).
On March 25, 2022, a Kent County Sheriff’s Deputy heard a dog barking from inside a 2012 Town & Country minivan parked in a business lot in the 3700 block of Alpine Avenue Northwest in Grand Rapids.
MLIVE reports that the deputy talked to ALEXANDER who acknowledged she had twenty-seven dogs she was training to be emotional service dogs.
According to a probable cause affidavit, when the deputy looked in the van, he saw dogs in crates stacked on top of each other and each crate had at least three dogs inside, with “urine and fecal matter” on the crate bottoms.
The deputy took pictures of the dogs and the condition they were in and sent them to Kent County Animal Control Supervisor Scott Dobbins who responded to the scene.
Mr. Dobbins reported that most of the dogs did not have access to water in the crates and that “the crates were too small for the amount of dogs that were in each one.”
Police seized the VOICELESS VICTIMS and took them to the Kent County Animal Shelter.
Its Director, Ms. Angela Hollinshead told 13 ON YOUR SIDE: “They're mostly Chihuahuas, and there were a couple Shelties in there as well.”
The furbabies range in age, from puppies to adults.
ALEXANDER said that seven are adults and the remainder she described as puppies who were 10 months old and younger.
“The outcome of a civil hearing on Friday last week awarded custody of the 27 dogs to the Kent County Animal Shelter,” explained Ms. Hollinshead.
MLIVE reports that ALEXANDER said the authorities overstepped their bounds in removing the dogs as they were properly cared for.
“They just destroyed everything. I was trying to do something good,” said ALEXANDER.
While some of the dogs are already up for adoption, others are expected to be spayed or neutered and then they will also be ready to be adopted.
As Ms. Hollinshead explained: “We're going through the rest of their medical and behavioral exams. And for the most part, I don't believe that we have anybody that's not going to make it up for adoption because of a medical issue at this point.”
ALEXANDER was booked into the Kent County Jail on April 4, and online records show she was released.
ALEXANDER is slated to be back in court on May 9, 2022, for a preliminary exam.
The charge she is facing is a felony punishable by up to only seven years in prison.
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