A 53-year-old Salem woman has pleaded guilty in Marion County Court to a misdemeanor charge of violation of animal owner duties in connection with the starvation death of her dog.
As part of the plea, a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to an animal pending against Angela Clark of East Boone Street was dropped.
Clark was placed on two years probation, ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation, not to serve as a caregiver to a domestic animal, undergo random drug testing, pay a $600 probation fee and a $200 public defender fee.
Clark was arrested by Salem Police on the charges last December after a Salem Public Works employee saw a dead dog in a dog house at her home. Salem Police and Animal control were called because the dog appeared to have been malnourished. While Clark said the dog had been fed the night before, a necropsy by a veterinarian showed the dog had not eaten for seven to ten days and had died from starvation more than 24 hours before it had been found.
