A Tunkhannock woman is facing animal cruelty charges after police say she left two dogs in her car for more than eight hours in temperatures above 70 degrees, according to a criminal complaint.
Jessica Jayne, 34, of 10 Overlook Drive, allegedly arrived at the Regional Hospital parking lot in Scranton at 8 a.m. on March 31.
At about 1 p.m., hospital security officer William Summereve summoned police, concerned for the dogs’ welfare.
Officers responded to the parking lot, noting two dogs — a medium-sized white dog and a smaller brown dog — didn’t seem to be in distress.
Police noted, however, that the larger dog seemed aggressive and would growl when anyone approached the car and occasionally nipped at the smaller dog.
According to the criminal complaint, the dogs didn’t have access to food or water. The outside temperature, they said, was 76 degrees.
Security then requested the driver come back to the car over the hospital’s public address system, but no one responded.
Police asked security officers to keep them apprised of the situation because the dogs didn’t seem to be in distress at that time.
At about 4:45 p.m., Summereve contacted police for a second time. He said the windows had fogged up and the dogs seemed to be markedly less active.
Responding officers noted that the smaller dog was bleeding, apparently from having been bitten by the larger dog.
As officers were speaking with a representative of the Lackawanna County district attorney’s office, Jayne returned to the car, opened the windows and put the air conditioning on.
She told officers she had returned to the car several times since 8 a.m. to tend to the dogs. When asked if she could provide proof she had returned, she did not respond.
She is charged with two counts of cruelty to animals. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. on May 13 before District Judge Alyce Farrell.