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A Wisconsin woman is facing four felonies and eight misdemeanors for the death of three ferrets and a dog that she abandoned in an apartment for nearly three months.
Aysha Carbon, 22, of Manitowoc, was arrested March 15 after a concerned citizen contacted police to report that Carbon had neglected a dog that died of malnourishment, according to the criminal complaint. The caller stated Carbon’s mother had retrieved the dog through an open window and took it to her home where the dog later died.
An officer went to the home where the deceased dog was located and spoke with Carbon’s mother and another individual at the home. The officer viewed the corpse of a black and white female pit bull named Sapphire.
The individuals stated that several months earlier, they had offered to take over ownership of Sapphire, but Carbon never followed up on the offer. Carbon’s mother told the officer Carbon had not been living at her apartment since her daughter was born in early December and she could not believe she abandoned the dog and left her to suffer.
The officer obtained and executed a search warrant for Carbon’s apartment. Upon entering the apartment, the officer observed it was filthy and in disarray with piles of dog feces and urine on the floor. The officer found empty dog dishes and an empty food bag in the home, but there was no food or water accessible to the dog. The officer also observed the toilet was shut, preventing Sapphire from obtaining water that way.
Sapphire appeared to have been chewing on items in the home, likely as an attempt to fend off starvation, and there were bite marks on soda bottles, aluminum cans, tin cans, garbage, lotion bottles, stuffed animals and foam mattresses, according to the criminal complaint.
When the officer opened a closet, she found the decaying corpse of a ferret that appeared to have been dead for several weeks to a month.
Police later located Carbon at her boyfriend’s house and questioned her. Carbon said she knew the officer was there because her dog died of malnourishment. She said she had left her apartment three months earlier to have a baby and she hadn’t been back, but that she had a friend feeding her dog and letting it out.
Carbon told the officer she did not have any other pets. The officer told Carbon that a search warrant had been executed at her apartment due to suspected animal mistreatment and officers found a deceased ferret. Carbon then acknowledged she did own a ferret.
When police contacted the friend who Carbon claimed was caring for the dog, they said they hadn’t spoken to Carbon in two years and she had never asked them to care for her dog. When confronted with this information, Carbon admitted it was her fault and she neglected Sapphire.
Police again questioned Carbon about the ferret at her house and she admitted she had two ferrets that she had left in a cage in the kitchen. Officers then returned to Carbon’s residence and found a cage with two decaying ferrets inside, with no water. There was not even a container for water in the cage.
When questioned about the third dead ferret that was found in her apartment, Carbon told the officer she didn’t know where it came from. Carbon’s mother later confirmed that Carbon did own three ferrets but Carbon had said they had died months before she moved.
Carbon was booked into the Manitowoc County Jail and released on bond the next day. A necropsy performed on Sapphire indicated she had died due to prolonged starvation.
Carbon is charged with four felony counts of mistreatment of animals/cause death, four misdemeanor counts for failing to provide proper animal shelter-sanitation standards and four misdemeanor counts for failing to provide food and drink to confined animals. Her initial appearance is scheduled for April 5.
CRIMINAL COMPLAINT: