An incident involving the death of a canine has led to the arrest of a woman by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. According to a news release issued by the JCSD, deputies responded to a location on Ernest Phann Lane in Gainesboro on Tuesday in response to possible animal cruelty. The release notes when officers arrived, they found a deceased dog submerged in a 50-gallon container of water. The dog belonged to the boyfriend of Marisa Wheeler and apparently the couple had been in an argument earlier that day.
An investigation determined Wheeler had allegedly placed the dog in a vehicle at 9:30 that morning, after the couple’s argument. The windows were up and the car was reportedly not running. The dog’s owner reportedly found it deceased inside the vehicle at 4:30 p.m. and contacted law enforcement.
After the owner found his dead dog, Wheeler reportedly placed the dog in the 50-gallon container of water claiming she was trying to revive the dog.
JCSD Shane Stanton arrested Wheeler and charged her with Aggravated Animal Cruelty, due to her intentionally and knowingly causing the dog’s death by extreme heat in the vehicle, the release notes.
