A Mount Vernon woman has been charged with animal cruelty after, authorities said, she left two pit bull puppies and a kitten in her apartment with no food or water for more than two months, leading to their deaths.
Authorities did not discover the animals’ carcasses until April 27. They had been left to die by Irema Johnson, 31, on Feb. 11 after Johnson abandoned the Lincoln Avenue apartment to deal with a family emergency, said Ernest Lungaro, director of enforcement at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Westchester.
“According to her, she just never returned,” Lungaro told The Journal News. “She had other options.”
Johnson was charged Tuesday with three counts of animal cruelty and was arraigned in Mount Vernon City Court. She faces up to a year in state prison on each count if convicted.
Lungaro said the animals were all just a few months old. The puppies were left in a crate in the apartment, while the kitten was let loose. None of the three was given nourishment.
“The living area was filled with garbage and animal feces,” Lungaro said.
SPCA of Westchester Executive Director Shannon Laukhuf called the incident “one of the most heinous acts of animal cruelty in my tenure at the SPCA of Westchester.”
“Dying from dehydration and starvation is a drawn-out and painful death,” Laukhuf said.
Johnson could not be reached for comment.
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