SPCA supervisor arrested for letting her own dog starve to death

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-spcapuppy_09met.ART.State.Edition1.50e0f27.html

SPCA worker's animal cruelty arrest remains baffling

12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 9, 2009

By THEODORE KIM / The Dallas Morning News
[e-mail]

Alicia Marie Martin's Facebook posts unfold like a typical story of young adulthood: hopes and minidramas as well as tidbits about her work at one of Texas' largest animal shelters.

But her arrest report offers a different story. Police describe how in March the 23-year-old animal protection specialist left her own puppy to starve to death in a waterlogged crate in her Plano apartment.

Martin, who was fired from her position as a supervisor at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas, was indicted by a grand jury last month.

She faces a felony charge of animal cruelty that could bring up to two years in state jail and a $10,000 fine. Her first appearance in a Collin County district court is Wednesday.

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She also said she could not afford to take Bruce to a veterinarian and was embarrassed to seek help from her own clinic because the dog was so skinny.

Martin told authorities that she checked into a hotel room days after her electricity was turned off and left Bruce alone in the apartment. She said she often kept the dog in a crate for up to 11 hours each day, checking on him occasionally.

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Martin was released from jail May 8.

She made no mention on Facebook of Bruce's death or her arrest. When she posted a note the day she got out of jail announcing that she was "baaaaack!!!!" a friend asked where she had been.

She replied, "vacations are always nice" :mad: :mad: :mad: