Woman Accused Of Leaving Dog Outside Shelter Will Not Serve Jail Time

A woman who was accused of leaving a dog outside a Lewiston shelter, only to have the dog get struck by a car and killed, will not be going to jail.

WLBZ-TV reports Sarah Vye changed her not guilty plea to guilty of cruelty to animals when she appeared in court. The judge sentenced her to 90-days with all the time suspended. She's also ordered to never own an animal again. Vye could have spent nearly a year behind bars.

It was on January 25th when Vye is seen on a surveillance video dropping the yellow lab named Abby off in front of the shelter that had closed for the night. The animal spent three days outside before being struck and killed by a passing motorist.

She says the dog belonged to her ex-boyfriend's ex-wife who refused to take the animal back, despite Vye's claims that the dog was often nippy toward her children. She said in a radio interview that she'd tried to have the dog euthanized or committed to a shelter but was told she couldn't since she wasn't the owner. On January 25th, Vye claims that the dog had nipped her baby in the face and that she had just had enough. She said she thought the dog would hang around and someone at the shelter would find it, however shelter officials have said that if she'd knocked on the door, someone would have come out to help her.