Woman charged with puppy perishing

Michelle Marie Bradford, 42, of Port Arthur, was indicted on Sept. 21 on an allegation of cruelty to a non-livestock animal related to a deceased puppy found at Bradford’s home on or about July 13.

According to the probable cause affidavit charging Bradford with the felony crime, the temperature was a blustering 94 degrees on the day of the puppy’s death. Investigators were called to Bradford’s home by a witness who advised that the puppy “has been left in a cage on the driveway in direct sunlight without shade, food or water,” the charging instrument reads.

The officer attending to the call confirmed the suspicions, and spoke with Bradford, who allegedly told the investigator that “her daughter had left a puppy at the residence without her knowledge.“

Dr. Blake Foskey, DVM, performed a necropsy on the deceased puppy. Foskey concluded that the puppy died of heat stroke with subsequent disseminated intravascular coagulation.

Upon follow up investigation, Bradford allegedly admitted to police that she was indeed aware that the puppy was at her home and she, “had forgotten the puppy was outside until the police arrived on scene.”