GENESEE COUNTY (WWJ) — A Flint woman with a criminal past is facing charges of animal abuse after a grocery delivery driver alerted police to a severely abused puppy he spotted in an apartment.
Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and Prosecutor David Leyton announced Tuesday 35-year-old Nataya Cabine has been charged with torturing an animal — a four-year felony — and being cruel to an animal, a 93-day misdemeanor.
Due to being charged as a habitual offender, she could face up to 15 years in prison for the felony charge, Leyton said on a video posted to the sheriff's office Facebook page.
Last Friday the sheriff's office got a call from a delivery driver who had seen a pit bull mix puppy named Nugget when he was invited into an apartment.
Leyton said the delivery man saw the woman "smacking" the dog because he had peed in his cage. His girlfriend also saw the abuse and "thought he was gonna die" as she watched Cabine allegedly punch Nugget in the face.
"This little guy didn't deserve that. He absolutely didn't deserve that," Leyton said.
Officials say Nugget has obvious spine, hip and rib issues. The dog also had no bedding or food or water in its cage, which had feces piling up inside.
Because he had been standing and sleeping in urine his whole life, Swanson says the dog's belly and paws are stained because of the iodine in the urine.
Genesee County Sheriff
"One thing that Genesee County needs to know is that anytime you abuse, torture or neglect an animal, you're gonna get arrested and you're gonna get charged. Because we know there's a direct connect between animal abuse, neglect and torture and abuse against people, domestic abuse," Swanson said.
Authorities have not released any information about Cabine's next court date.
