Three dogs were found dead inside a parked van at a storage facility on San Antonio's North Side, and police have arrested two women on animal cruelty charges in connection with their deaths. Brittany Samantha Urquidez and Kristine Elaigh Urquidez each face three counts of animal cruelty, with Kristine also booked on a drunken-driving charge and Brittany arrested for public intoxication.
According to Fox San Antonio, officers responded around 4 p.m. to a storage facility on Blanco Road near Loop 410 after a report that two women had been sleeping in a pickup truck for several hours. When police arrived, they found a van parked nearby that was not running, its windows covered by blankets. Inside, they discovered three dogs that were not moving or breathing.
Investigators Point to Heat and Intoxication
Investigators believe the dogs died after being left inside the van without air conditioning while the two women were intoxicated, the station's report states. Bexar County Jail provided booking photos of both Brittany Samantha Urquidez and Kristine Elaigh Urquidez following their arrests.
San Antonio's municipal animal-care rules are blunt on this point. A city brochure outlining local animal codes states plainly that it is illegal to leave any animal in a standing or parked vehicle. Beyond city code, Texas law also addresses the treatment of animals through Section 42.092 of the Texas Penal Code, titled Cruelty to Nonlivestock Animals.
A Separate Case Unfolding Across Town
The van deaths come as San Antonio Animal Care Services pursues an unrelated case on the city's Southeast Side. A 71-year-old woman was arrested in connection with last week's animal cruelty seizure there, according to KSAT. Investigators recovered an additional 29 dogs and a pig from the home, bringing the total number of animals found in that case to 45.
That woman was arrested earlier this week on outstanding animal-related warrants at a second property where she was transporting dogs, the outlet reports. Nothing in the available reporting ties the Southeast Side case to the van deaths on the North Side; they remain separate investigations handled by different agencies.
Animal-related cruelty cases have surfaced elsewhere in the San Antonio area in recent months. In September, a northeast Bexar County man was accused of leaving two dogs in a hot car for more than eight hours while he drank alcohol and then fell asleep; both dogs died, per KSAT. Charging details, bond amounts, and any responses from Brittany Samantha Urquidez or Kristine Elaigh Urquidez to the allegations against them have not been made public.
