A woman who allowed her dog to starve to death in an empty apartment will serve approximately 26 days in jail after she pleaded guilty to a Felony 6 animal cruelty charge on Wednesday in Waynesboro Circuit Court.
Local animal advocates expressed anger and frustration this week that the woman charged in the case, Nicole Jamison, didn’t get more time in jail.
Jamison was sentenced to three years for the crime, but her plea deal suspended two years and 11 months of her sentence. A Felony 6 charge in Virginia carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
There is currently a bill proposed in the Virginia General Assembly to allow animal cruelty cases to face a Felony 5 charge. If approved by the House and Senate, anyone convicted of the charge may be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
“As an animal rescue, our job is always to advocate for the animal, that includes asking for maximum penalties in cases of cruelty, neglect and abandonment,” said Amy Hammer, co-founder and president of Augusta Dog Adoptions. “As living beings, we all know or can well imagine, the mental and emotional torture experienced when starving to death.”
In Jamison’s case, a necropsy was done by the state lab in Bridgewater that determined the “hound mix” dog was approximately four months old and had died of emaciation.
“The puppy in this case suffered greatly and perhaps longer than Ms. Jamison will spend in jail,” Hammer said.
Without food, a companion animal’s body will first use up fats stored in the body to provide energy and sustenance, Hammer explained. After that is exhausted, the body begins to break down muscle in an effort to continue living, starting in the back end and lastly using the muscle on top of the skull. With no other sources of energy available, the organs will shut down. The process could take weeks if not months before death.
“Justice was not served for this puppy,” said Nita Lewis with Spay/Neuter Inc. “It does absolutely no good to find these people guilty, and then they basically get a slap on the wrist. She should also never be able to own another animal.”
As part of her plea agreement, Jamison is not allowed to own companion animals for five years.
In another case in Augusta County Circuit Court on Wednesday, a Swoope man, Cody Lee Frost, pleaded no contest to animal cruelty charges related to an abuse case involving a pit bull named Koi. Frost was also charged with a felony and faced up to five years in prison.
However, Frost’s Felony 6 charge was amended to a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to one year in jail with six months suspended. He will likely serve his six-month sentence in home confinement versus prison.
The Koi case stems from an incident where a local animal rescue group, Dogs Deserve Better Blue Ridge, worked with a concerned citizen to have the owner surrender Koi and get him immediate veterinary care for severe burns and a fractured pelvis.
“If we wouldn’t have gotten him (Koi) when we did, he most definitely would have died,” said Kimberly Hawk, co-founder of DDBBR.
Jon Hilbert, executive director of Shenandoah Valley Animal Service Center, said personally he feels that sentencing for felony animal cruelty convictions are “light.”
“As someone who has seen abused animals, the images are hard to ignore,” Hilbert said.
In addition to a bill in the Virginia General Assembly to toughen penalties for animal cruelty, there is also momentum to create a registry for people convicted of animal cruelty.
“There are several bills in the General Assembly at the moment that I have supported by writing letters to delegates,” Hilbert said.
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Crystal Graham
