Lang
8/29/20
Allegedly locking two dogs in a car for several consecutive days has led to an Iowa City woman’s arrest.
29-year-old Mikiala Collins of Sherman Drive was booked into the Johnson County Jail just after 5pm Friday.
Iowa City Police say that on March 24th Collins contacted them about removing a pair of dogs from a car on her property. Upon making contact with Collins, officers learned that she had locked the dogs in the car three or four days earlier because she claimed she had no room for them in her house. She claimed a friend had been feeding the dogs and letting them out of the car, but she also said that neither she nor the friend had keys to the locked vehicle.
Upon gaining access to the car officers reported seeing feces consistent with the dogs being inside for three or four days. There were also no receptacles for food or water, nor anywhere they could have been placed where they would not have been knocked over by the dogs.
One dog was profoundly underweight, with ribs, bones and joints protruding under the skin. An animal control coordinator agreed that the dog was extremely underweight to the point of criminal negligence.
Police say temperatures over the three or four days the dogs were locked in the car ranged from 28 to 48F.
Collins is charged with three counts of Animal Neglect. If convicted on all charges, she faces a maximum of 90 days in jail.