Woman sentenced for puppy perishing

Michelle Marie Bradford, of Port Arthur, was sentenced to serve 10 years’ probation for admitting fault on the 2022 allegation of cruelty to a non-livestock animal related to a deceased puppy found at Bradford’s home in Groves last July.

Bradford, standing before Jefferson County 252nd District Court Judge Raquel West on June 26, expressed remorse for the animal’s death, but not full culpability.

“I didn’t know she was still outside,” Bradford said of the victim, a puppy left in the summer heat with no food or water until she ultimately died. 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 read. “I still feel really bad I didn’t go out back and check on her.”

The responding officer reportedly spoke with Bradford, who allegedly told the investigator that “her daughter had left a puppy at the residence without her knowledge.” At court on Monday, Jefferson County prosecutors posited that the puppy was still at a temperature of 106 degrees “a couple hours after discovery.”

“I’m saving you by not showing video of the dog in its last throws of life – howling and in extreme pain,” the prosecutor further attested. Additionally, he alleged, “She’s not fully accepting responsibility for what has happened.”

A history of drug use, criminal record, and a past of not doing well on probation spurred the prosecutor to seek jail time for the offense, he said.

“I love my animals, but I don’t feel like the facts of this case, particularly, warrant a prison sentence at all,” West concluded. If Bradford had sought out a dog and didn’t feed the dog, or was abusing the dog, the judge said her opinion may have been different. “This case didn’t appear to be abuse – rather, a horrible event where others, too, may have some share of culpability.”