FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A Palatka woman was arrested Saturday after Flagler County deputies say she left a nursing dog and eight puppies caged in a garage in 97-degree heat and twice refused orders to give them water.
Just before 1:30 p.m., a deputy responded to a home on Rolland Lane after a DoorDash driver called to report a two-level cage inside the garage with the door halfway open.
The driver told deputies an adult American Bully occupied the lower level and a litter of puppies was in the upper level; neither had visible food and the animals were panting.
Deputies said the eight puppies, about 4 1/2 weeks old, were piled on top of one another in the upper cage, sharing a single bowl with only a little water. Their mother, a 2-year-old nursing dog named Envy, was in the lower cage next to an empty bowl. Outside temperature measured about 97 degrees.
Shafaira Johnson, 36, of Palatka, came out of the home and told the deputy she had expected the DoorDash driver to call law enforcement. She refused to let the deputy into the garage and said she could not move the dogs because she was waiting for someone to return with her vehicle, deputies said.
At 1:40 p.m., with Envy still panting heavily, the deputy told Johnson to give the dog water. She refused, saying Envy had been watered earlier and “throws up when she drinks too much.” Deputies say it took a second order, nine minutes later, before she filled the bowl.
As Animal Control was en route, Johnson began closing the garage door and was directed to reopen it. Deputies say she instead began placing the puppies into a cardboard box and cited a text message telling her law enforcement could not enter the garage.
Because of the dogs’ immediate risk in the heat, the deputy ordered her multiple times to open the door; she refused and stood by a pickup truck, blocking access to the animals.
Just before 2:45 p.m., a man arrived and handed over a cardboard box containing the eight panting puppies, whose fur was warm to the touch. An Animal Control investigator placed the puppies in an air-conditioned vehicle. Envy, still lactating and panting, was then surrendered.
“Eight puppies and their mother barked for help as they baked in a 97-degree garage,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “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.”
Deputies arrested Johnson on charges of animal cruelty, confinement of animals without sufficient food or water and resisting without violence. She was taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and later released on a $1,500 bond.