Police charge pet owner for killing dog she left tied to a door after moving out of Hill District apartment
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A Hill District woman is accused of tying her dog to an apartment door and leaving it behind this spring when she moved out of the unit, leading the dog to starve to death.
Talazia Monique Johnson, 22, of Bedford Dwellings, told police she lost her job in April and no longer could afford rent or veterinary care for her pet, a bulldog named Nala, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case.
She left the dog to fend for itself in April, the complaint said. Animal control officers found the dog’s decomposing body tied to a door in the Bedford Avenue apartment on July 28, more than three months after she had moved, the complaint said.
“I detected a strong odor that I can’t describe. It was not a pleasant smell,” a police officer wrote in the complaint. “I gasped at what I saw.”
An empty, red plastic bowl and an empty bag of dog food were found near Nala’s remains, the complaint said. A necropsy performed later confirmed that the dog had starved to death.
Police found an earnings statement bearing Johnson’s name on a living room coffee table, the complaint said. A pay stub and security officer ID tag, complete with Johnson’s photo, were on a bed.
Johnson told police that Nala had stopped eating and she saw a lot of worms in her feces, the complaint said.
Shalonda Robinson, Johnson’s mother, told police in August that Johnson got the dog in 2022, the complaint said. Johnson told police her daughter has mental health issues and got the dog as a puppy to be a service animal.
Police charged Johnson Friday with four counts of neglect of animals, two counts each of cruelty to animals and one count of abandonment of an animal by their owner, court records show.
Johnson was awaiting a preliminary hearing as of Friday afternoon, court records show. The records did not list an attorney for Johnson.