CLEARFIELD — A Tyrone woman will stand trial for leaving a dog outside for several days during frigid temperatures without food or water.
Jamey Marie Williams, 44, was charged by state police with misdemeanor counts of neglect of animals-sustenance/water, neglect of animals-shelter/protection, cruelty to animals and false reports after neighbors reported the dog outside a Boggs Township home for three days after Christmas.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Dec. 28 police were called to the residence to investigate an animal cruelty case.
When they arrived, they could see the driveway was completely covered with snow and there was no sign of any recent travel in or out.
The dog was on a lead that was wrapped several times around a post with the dog “only able to move an estimated 3 feet in any direction.”
The post was attached to an extended roof which “did not allow the dog to retain any body heat.”
As he petted the animal, the trooper said it was “cold to the touch.”
The neighbor stated she noticed no one had been home at the residence and the dog stayed tied out.
Her husband took food and water to the dog on Dec. 27 after discovering the dog had no sustenance available to him, she reported.
“The low temperature during the time frame was 12 degrees, while the high was 27 degrees,” it says in the criminal complaint.
Due to safety concerns, the dog was taken to the Clearfield County SPCA.
Williams called police later that day after her son, James Pfahler, had gotten a call from them.
She informed the officer that she was the owner of the residence where the dog was found.
She stated she drove from Tyrone to the home between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. that day and put the dog out before leaving again.
“At this point in the interview, I knew Williams was being deceptive because I arrived on the scene at approximately 09:07 hours and there was no tire marks or shoe prints in the snow, and I would have witnessed Williams on scene,” the trooper noted in his report.
Williams also claimed that her property has “no trespassing” signs and she wanted charges filed against her neighbors for being on her land. Troopers did not see any such signs near the home.
During a second interview, Williams told investigators that she was actually at the residence at 6 a.m. the day the police were there and that is when she put the dog out.
Her son, James Pfahler, 21, of West Decatur, was also charged in this case. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to one misdemeanor count of neglect of animals while his other charges were withdrawn.
All of Williams’s charges were held to court after a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court, sending the case on to the common pleas court.
Williams is free on $10,000, unsecured bail.