A woman was arrested Saturday after Flagler County deputies said she left a nursing American Bully and her eight puppies confined in a garage at a Palm Coast home in 97-degree heat, then repeatedly refused orders to give the mother dog water and reopen the garage during an animal cruelty investigation.
Shafaria Johnson, 36, of Palatka, faces misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, confinement of animals without sufficient food or water, and resisting an officer without violence, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the sheriff’s office, deputies responded around 1:30 p.m. Saturday to a home on Rolland Lane after a DoorDash driver reported seeing a two-level dog cage inside a partially open garage. The caller reported an adult American Bully in the lower level and eight puppies in the upper level with no visible food or water and said all of the animals were panting in the heat.
According to the arrest affidavit, deputies found the puppies, estimated to be about 4½ weeks old, lying on top of one another in the upper cage with only a small amount of water remaining in a shared bowl. Their 2-year-old lactating mother, Envy, was confined below beside an empty water bowl and was panting heavily. The deputy recorded the outside temperature at 97 degrees and noted a fan inside the garage, though it could not be determined whether it was circulating air.
Johnson told deputies she expected the DoorDash driver to call law enforcement and refused to allow the deputy into the garage to check the airflow from the fan, according to the affidavit. She allegedly said she could not move the dogs because she was waiting for someone to return with her vehicle and told deputies the dogs arrived at the home the previous night and did not live there.
The sheriff’s office said a deputy first ordered Johnson to give Envy water at about 1:40 p.m. after observing the dog panting heavily. According to the affidavit, Johnson responded that the dog had already been given water and would vomit if she drank too much. The deputy wrote that she did not fill the bowl until after a second order about nine minutes later.
While Animal Control was en route, Johnson began closing the garage door and placing the puppies into a cardboard box, the sheriff’s office said. According to the affidavit, she refused repeated commands to reopen the garage, showed the deputy a text message she claimed said law enforcement could not enter the garage and positioned herself between the deputy and the dogs.
The sheriff’s office said a man later arrived and turned the dogs over to Animal Control. According to the affidavit, the puppies were still panting, their fur was warm to the touch and their snouts were not moist. Envy, who was still panting heavily, was also turned over to Animal Control and placed in an air-conditioned vehicle with the puppies.
“Eight puppies and their mother barked for help as they baked in a 97-degree garage,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. “Thankfully a DoorDash driver ‘saw something and said something,’ and now all nine dogs are safe, cool, and being cared for. If you can’t take care of your animals, surrender them. Lately we have arrested far too many people who don’t care about their animals’ well-being. Don’t lock your pets in conditions you wouldn’t want to live in yourself.”
