Lockport, N.Y. (WBEN) - A Lockport woman has been arrested for the starvation of her dog, Eve, resulting in its death on Christmas.
Niagara SPCA's Senior Investigator Jonathan Bondi says Eve, a small-breed dog, was heavily emaciated and covered in urine when they found her wondering down Ruhlmann Rd in Lockport. She weighed in at only four pounds.
"When we brought the dog into the shelter, myself, saw the condition and we went to social media to say, 'Hey, this is stray dog. This is in this condition.' We got a couple people calling with a little bit of information here and there, but once people figured out of the dog's passing, unfortunately, on Christmas, the community really helped out," stated Bondi in an interview with WBEN. "We started getting calls in probably every half an hour, honestly, and people giving us credible information and specific information identifying the owner, and which helped us locate her, and that's where we made the arrest."
Bondi says they were able to confirm the dog passed away from starvation after doing an official necropsy.
"When interviewing the owner, to surprise, the owner took full accountability," he said. "They were compliant. She did take responsibility for her part in the situation, which was surprising, but I give her credit for doing that part. But she wasn't surprised. I can't say she was, and I can't say there was remorse. More or less, she just accepted what she did."
39-year-old Ashley Pritchard is currently charged with Failure To Provide, which is a Class "A" misdemeanor, but that could be upgraded to a felony, if the Niagara County District Attorney deems it necessary.
"Being a felony, it could be anything from a minimum year in jail. It could be pleaded down. Our goal is always animal abuse registries, which we have in Niagara County," Bondi noted. "It's not across the state. I wish it was, but in Niagara County, we have the animal abuse registry. Our goal is always to get them on that, which means they can never possess animals again at minimum 15 years, as long as you live in Niagara County. That's going to be our goal, as well as jail time, fines, whatever we can get."
Pritchard was release on an appearance ticket, and will be back in court on a later date.