A $25,000 bond has been set for a woman facing felony charges following the death of a puppy.
The Groves Police Department on Thursday afternoon announced the arrest of Michelle Bradford for cruelty to a non-livestock animal. She has been taken to the Jefferson County jail.
Sgt. John Hudson said the Groves Police Department was notified in July about the incident. Officers assisted Groves Animal Control on a cruelty to animal call shortly before 3:30 p.m. on July 13 in the 3100 block of Taft Avenue in Groves. The dead puppy was discovered in a wire kennel on the side of the home, where it was allegedly located in direct sunlight with no shade, food or water, according to a previous news release.
“We immediately began investigating who was responsible for leaving the puppy and the kennel outside,” Hudson said. “Ultimately, the investigation led to the lady (Bradford) who was arrested today.”
The day that the puppy was found dead in its kennel had a temperature of 94 degrees with a heat advisory in effect. The heat index showed between 108 to 112-degrees at the time of the call, police previously said in the news release.
“A neighbor reported that her stepson took a video of the dog at 2:42 p.m. hours, while the dog was still alive and then she reported it to authorities,” police said previously.
At the time, police said the owner of the home denied having any knowledge that the dog was at her residence and claimed the dog belonged to her daughter, who lives in Port Arthur. The woman claimed that she had no knowledge it had been dropped off. No arrest was made at the time because the offense was considered a Class A Misdemeanor for failing to provide necessary food, water, care, or shelter.
Animal control took possession of the puppy’s body and awaited results of the necropsy to help determine the cause of death. The investigation continued.
“Groves Detectives Investigation revealed that a resident of the home, Michelle Bradford, had knowledge of the dog being dropped off at the home,” Groves Police said in an update posted on social media Thursday afternoon. “During an interview she admitted to investigators that she forgot about the dog being left outside. Groves Detectives completed the case file and submitted it to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office for review.”
Hudson clarified that Bradford was staying at the address when the incident occurred but had since moved to a residence in Port Arthur where she arrested. Precinct 1, Place 2 Justice of the Peace Benjamin Collins, Sr. granted the warrant and issued the bond, police said.
“The case was brought to the (Jefferson County) District Attorney’s office last week and they moved on it pretty quickly,” Hudson said. “They accepted the felony charge for the animal cruelty and immediately after the warrant was issued a couple of our investigators went and placed her under arrest for the warrant.”
Under certain circumstances, Texas law allows for charges to be enhanced from a misdemeanor to a felony offense. If found guilty of the felony, Bradford could face a punishment range from two to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000.
Over the past 11 years, in his experience, Hudson said the police department occasionally sees cases where animals have allegedly been abused or neglected — but not to the level of this case.
“I think the DA’s office agreed, like probably the rest of us do agree, that it was torture to leave that poor puppy out there, so we went ahead and got the felony charge on it instead of the misdemeanor charge,” Hudson said.
meagan.ellsworth@beaumontenterprise.com
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