Sheriff: Woman left 2 dogs, cat in hot van while she went to the beach

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Kentucky woman has been charged with three counts of animal cruelty after deputies say she knowingly left two dogs and a cat in a hot van while she spent hours at the beach.

Brevard County Deputies were flagged down by a customer at the Publix on Highway A1A in Satellite Beach just after 2 p.m. Wednesday who reported seeing a woman walk away from her van with a dog in it approximately 15 minutes earlier. The customer noted the van wasn’t running and the front driver and passenger-side windows were only slightly open.

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The deputies looked in the 2006 Dodge Caravan and saw the three pets inside, clearly in distress.

They noted one of the dogs didn’t have enough strength to stand and was attempting to drink from a bowl on the floor of the van that had no water in it.

Deputies say the second dog and the cat also appeared to be distressed and panting heavily.

According to the sheriff’s office, the front and passenger side windows were only opened approximately one inch. Deputies noted the temperature outside at the time was 86 degrees.

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One deputy was given permission to break the passenger-side window to get access to the dogs. They were taken from the van and given to Brevard County Animal Services for emergency care.

Deputies say another two hours passed before the owner of the van, identified as 36-year-old Jessica Lynn Greer, came back and learned the pets were removed.

According to her arrest report, Greer was “extremely upset” about the broken window and yelled that she knew she’d left her pets in the van.

Deputies concluded that the dogs and cat would have died without their intervention.

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Greer was arrested and charged with three counts of felony animal cruelty.

She’s being held in the Brevard County Jail on a total of $500 bond.

“I’ve said it a thousand times and I’m going to continue to say it: If you’ll harm an animal, you’ll harm a human. This person right here not only harmed her animals, she didn’t care,” Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a statement. “We’re going to show her what happens in Brevard County if you abuse an animal.”

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