A Louisville couple is facing animal cruelty charges after police said their goldendoodle was so badly neglected that it had to be euthanized. Yoanser Feria Lopez and Emily Salazar, who are married, appeared before a judge Wednesday morning to answer for the allegations surrounding their dog, Dexter.
According to WLKY, Dexter suffered a serious leg injury while the couple was on vacation in June. Investigators said the couple knew the dog was hurt, but Dexter was not treated until he got loose and a good Samaritan took him to Jefferson Animal Hospital.
The dog's condition had deteriorated to the point that he ultimately had to be euthanized, per police. The outlet's report does not detail what happened between the June injury and Dexter's death, but it makes clear that investigators believe the couple was aware of his injury throughout.
Judge Calls the Allegations Extremely Disturbing
Jefferson County District Court Judge Tanisha Hickerson called the offenses very serious during Wednesday's hearing. She told the courtroom, “Thank goodness I do not need to refamiliarize myself with the allegations in the case because they are extremely disturbing,” the station's report notes.
Hickerson set the couple's bond at $1,500 and ordered Lopez and Salazar to have no contact with any animals while the case proceeds. The Louisville Metro Department of Corrections provided the booking image of the pair that accompanied the report.
Kentucky's Cruelty Laws and Recent Cases
Under Kentucky law, cruelty to animals in the second degree covers intentionally or wantonly failing to provide adequate food, drink, space or health care, or otherwise subjecting an animal in one's custody to cruel neglect, according to animallaw.info. That same statute classifies the offense as a Class A misdemeanor.
Lawmakers have pushed to toughen those penalties in recent years. Kentucky House Bill 258, which passed the state legislature, sought stiffer punishment for people who torture dogs or cats, making a first offense a Class D felony rather than a misdemeanor, as reported by Spectrum News 1. The bill was inspired in part by Ethan, a dog found nearly starving to death in the Kentucky Humane Society's parking lot in January 2021, the outlet reported.
Dexter's case is not an isolated one in the region. In January, a Louisville man was charged with seven counts of second-degree cruelty to animals after seven dogs were found in inhumane conditions, according to a report from WDRB. And in 2024, a Kentucky man faced 62 counts of animal cruelty and one count of torture of a dog after dozens of animals were found at his home, per a report from WKYT.
Louisville Metro Animal Services accepts reports of suspected animal cruelty or neglect through the city government, which outlines how residents can flag concerns about animals in distress.
