UPDATE: Dog abandoned in Lincoln, left in kennel to die

Posted By: Channel 8 Eyewitness News

8@klkntv.com

We have a follow up to a story we first told you about on Monday. Two women have come forward for a dog abandonment case. The 3 year-old lab named Diamond was found inside her kennel on March 1st. 

Police say the dog had clearly starved to death. They say Leslie Byron has come forward for her responsibility. Byron told police she was having trouble finding a place to stay with the dog.

Byron decided to leave it in a wooded area where she would visit the dog every day. She told police she got too busy and didn’t return until three weeks later.

That’s when Byron says she called her friend, Sierra Hotchkiss, to help her move the dog’s body.

Byron has been cited with animal abandonment and neglect. Both are class four felonies. Hotchkiss has been charged with accessory of a class four felony. 

Posted by: Laura Wilson
lwilson@klkntv.com

LINCOLN–The Lincoln Police Department described it as disturbing.

On Monday, LPD posted a picture on Facebook, detailing a sad scene officers were called out to last week, near 37th and South Street.

"The dog was deceased.  It was very apparent not even being a veterinarian, you could look at the dog and see it was starved and likely dehydrated.  Probably the cause of death was dehydration,” recalled Lincoln Animal Control Manager Steve Beal.

A female black lab—3, maybe 4-years-old, trapped in a kennel and left to suffer.

Police are treating this as an animal cruelty case, looking for any information that could lead them to a suspect.

Beal says with all of the animal resources in town, like the Capital Humane Society, this could have been avoided simply by making one phone call.

“When an animal has to starve to death or go without water to the point where it dies of dehydration-those things are preventable.  They don’t have to happen."

Beal says it’s okay to call animal control for help—whether it’s because you’ve encountered an emergency vet bill or can no longer afford to care for an animal.

"We’ll talk to them about we can do to help them get the animal to the Humane Society or to the vet.  We’ll assist anybody with that kind of help if that’s what they need," said Beal.

Pet surrender fees typically average $25, but Animal Control is willing to work with you if you can’t afford that.

In the meantime, if you have any information about this case, LPD is encouraging you to contact Lincoln Crimestoppers or Animal Control at 402-441-7900