A Valley woman hired as a dog sitter is facing animal cruelty charges after allegedly failing to provide food and water for two animals in her care, which resulted in their deaths.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office arrested 19-year-old Tiffany Andrea Fajardo on February 1 at her home in Tempe.
MCSO says Fajardo was hired by a family in Gilbert to care for their dogs from October 8 through October 15 while they were out of town and while Fajardo was on break from classes.
MCSO says the family left detailed feeding and medicine instructions for each animal; they also left the dog sitter's payment at their home, which Fajardo picked up.
When Fajardo went to the house, near Greenfield and Ocotillo roads in Gilbert on October 15, she found two of the dogs dead in their kennels. The other two dogs, a Schnauzer named Darwin and a Chihuahua named Waffles, were taken by the owners to a veterinary clinic for treatment. Darwin needed intravenous fluids to treat his severe dehydration.
The necropsy results were completed on the Airedale Terriers, Sampson and Piper, and showed they died of lack of nutrition, as well as from dehydration.
Fajardo later told MCSO that she went to the home early in the week, but forgot to return and didn't have a car.
She has been charged with four counts of animal cruelty.
