Harrah Police: Animal Neglect Nearly Fatal For Three Pets

Abandoning pets is cruel enough, but doing that in the summer heat makes it much worse. Police in Harrah say a woman's negligence nearly cost her pets their lives.

Jessica Lynn Mott is now facing three felony charges for leaving her pets in extreme conditions for at most a week with no food or water. A dog would not have survived conditions for that amount of time if it wasn't for a neighbor's quick response.

"I ended up jumping the fence and bringing it some water," neighbor Lane Tucker said. "When [the puppy] saw me bringing the water, he was like choking himself trying to get it. It was awful. It was the cutest little puppy."

Tucker and his mom heard the 6-month-old pit bull barking and crying for help. Finally, they had enough and called police.

"We were fortunate to get to them when we did," Harrah police spokesperson Phil Stewart said. "This could have been a bad deal."

Stewart says officers found an emaciated dog. Its ribs were visible under the dog's fur.

"This is extremely dangerous," Stewart said. "It's a very slow, miserable, painful death."

Police then saw another dog through a window inside the house. It was also neglected and malnourished, according to officers. Police served a search warrant. In all, animal control took possession of two dogs and a parrot.

Police say Mott has already bonded out of jail. She could not be reached for comment. Mott tells police she was only gone for one night, but police say that is clearly not the case.

"I just don't understand why people would do that to animals," Tucker said.

The animals were adopted out to a loving family. Police say they expect Mott will be forced to pay a fine for the felonies.