A Linthicum woman is heartbroken over the death of her dog, a 4.5 month old Chihuahua named Harley. She’s since created a petition calling for jail time for the person accused in his death.
Sabrina Richards is charged with animal cruelty after she allegedly kicked the dog 17 feet off her neighbor's front porch.
“I have the vision of him in my head and I know he was suffering, I know he was in pain and it was just so unexpected,” said Jessica Miskimon, Harley’s owner and Richards’ neighbor.
Miskimon and her boyfriend were celebrating Father's Day and invited Richard’s husband over to join in. Richards then went over to Miskimon’s house to retrieve her husband and an argument broke out. When Richards went to leave, the one pound Chihuahua snuck out.
“Once she opened the door, my puppy went outside and as soon as I shut that door, my hand didn't even come off the knob, I was opening it up like ‘Oh my god, Harley,’ and I heard yelp!,” Miskimon said.
When she went outside she saw Harley in pain, bleeding from his mouth.
“Ten minutes later he died in our arms,” she said.
Anne Arundel County police and animal control were called to the scene. Richards was charged with two felony and two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.
“Statements on scene contradict each other a little bit, but what we determined was one neighbor either kicked or stepped on the Chihuahua,” said Cpl. Jacklyn Davis, spokeswoman with the Anne Arundel County Police Department.
Richards did not answer the door when ABC2 News tried to reach her for comment.
As of Friday evening, the petition started by Miskimon had more than 1,600 signatures. In the online petition, she calls on everyone who signs to help get justice for Harley. She would like to see Richards serve jail time for her crime.
“I want the maximum of everything. I want to see a law changed, I'm going to push for Harley's Law and try to get it to where pets are considered family,” Miskimon said.
Because to her, Harley was family. She got the puppy shortly after her father passed from cancer and named him Harley after her dad's love for Harley Davidson motorcycles.
“She stole from me what I had to help me cope with my father. And then this is the first Father's Day without my father and then I lose [Harley] on top it. So it just made the grieving all the worse,” Miskimon said.
A necropsy will be performed on the dog to better determine the cause of death. Police said they'll use the results as part of their investigation and that it's still an open and ongoing case.
According to online court records, Richards is scheduled to attend a preliminary hearing on July 20th.
