VAN BUREN, Ark. — Over the summer, a Van Buren couple was accused of leaving their two dogs outside for days in extreme heat resulting in one dog's death.
James and Ashley Lemley were convicted of two counts of animal cruelty, which are misdemeanors in Arkansas. They were ordered to each spend a day in jail.
The couple recently tried to get their surviving dog back and came close to doing so.
Back in July, police were called out to James and Ashley's home in Van Buren for an animal welfare check. Police said the Lemleys had been out of town for days.
One of their dogs, a Great Pyrenees named Snowflake, was dead.
Police believe Cooper the chocolate lab would have died as well if they had arrived on the scene any later.
Cooper was broken out of the small pen he was kept in during the police call and put in the care of the Almost Home Shelter and Rescue in Van Buren.
Almost Home volunteer Susan Locke said Cooper is thriving.
“He is healthy, he is running and playing and he loves to play fetch,” Locke said. “He loves everybody. He is such a good boy.”
Cooper is now with a foster family and waiting to be adopted.
As part of the court agreement, the Lemleys pleaded guilty.
The couple agreed to not own any animals for a year, but then Crawford County prosecutor Kevin Holmes learned the case wasn’t as closed as it seemed.
“Lemleys' attorney reached out and said that they were wanting to get Cooper back,” Holmes said.
When 5NEWS first learned of the new hearing we called the courthouse, but never heard back from the judge.
“We thought that we had an understanding after the trial of what was going to happen with Cooper and that the Lemleys weren't going to seek to have Cooper back,” Holmes said.
In the week following our phone call with a message that was never returned, the hearing was called off, meaning Cooper will stay with his foster family for now.
However, Locke says the work is far from over.
“We see some of the worst cases that come in, we've had dogs come in that are just absolutely starving to death, dogs that are dumped, puppies that are dumped,” Locke said. “Any shelters and rescues are just so overwhelmed. We just can't save them all."
Locke asks anyone who cares about animal welfare to call their state representatives and ask for stricter penalties surrounding animal cruelty.
“I really think that Arkansas, local leaders, they need to increase the penalties for animal abuse,” Locke said. “There are a lot of people in Arkansas that love dogs and don’t want to see these kinds of things happen.”
The shelter believes Cooper is about four years old, even though he has some gray fur around his face that makes him appear older.
Reach out to the Almost Home Animal Shelter in Van Buren if you’re interested in adopting him.
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