ROGERS, Ark. — A Benton County judge has sentenced a former Rogers police officer after she pleaded guilty to aggravated animal cruelty on June 17, according to Prosecuting Attorney Josh Robinson.
Jerri Beyard, 41, was arrested in May 2022 for leaving three dogs in her home without food or water for over seven months.
Robinson confirmed she was sentenced to 120 days in jail and six years of probation.
According to court records, officers were called to Beyard's home in Rogers on May 7, 2022, after a property manager reportedly found the decomposing bodies of three dogs, with one locked in a cage and the others lying in the home.
The property manager told police that he went to check on the house because he believed the tenant abandoned the home.
Beyard, who was no longer an officer, admitted to police that she left the dogs in the home without food or water in September 2021 and did not return until their bodies were discovered on May 7, 2022, according to records.
Court records state that when asked if she thought nobody would find the deceased animals, she said, "Of course."
When investigators asked if she had thought about going back to the home to get the dogs out, even after they were dead, she allegedly responded by saying she "did not want to think about it."
Although she originally faced three counts of animal cruelty, she was only formally charged for one count after agreeing to a plea deal.
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