Neglectful French bulldog owner let pet die in agony after leaving animal outdoors in Las Vegas heat for 20 hours, police say
Olivia Viola Underwood, 31, of North Las Vegas, was arrested on May 31 after her pet Jazzy succumbed to heat stroke.
The University Medical Center employee allegedly placed her French bulldog into the outdoor crate before going to her 12-hour shift on May 30 at around 5:45pm.
When she returned, she did not check on Jazzy and went straight in to sleep.
But she, 'had time to get home from work, order an Uber for her grandmother, change into sleeping clothes, and fall asleep,' detectives said in a report, viewed by Fox 5 Vegas.
Neighbors began to notice that the dog was in distressed and appeared to be heavily panting from the hot weather, video posted to social media showed.
The dog eventually became stiff and 'appeared to be dying,' around 1pm the following say, witnesses said.
A neighbor entered the backyard to check on the dog and noticed Jazzy was experiencing a possible heat-induced seizure. They poured water on her body three times, but the dog stopped breathing.
One of the witnesses attempted CPR, but was unsuccessful.
When Underwood (middle) returned, she did not check on Jazzy. Neighbors began to notice that the dog was in distressed and appeared to be heavily panting from the hot weather and eventually died
Underwood said her children then woke up her to tell her that people were in their backyard, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
She told investigators that she fell asleep with her scrubs on, but video of her talking with neighbors in her backyard showed her wearing a t-shirt and shorts.
'I was sleeping! I was sleeping!' she can be heard frantically telling a female neighbor. 'I don't know what happened.'
The video ended with her aggressively yelling: 'Why are you recording my house?'
Clark County Animal Protection Services took the dog's body and it was preliminarily determined that the pooch appeared to have died from a heat stroke.
She was arrested and told police that she would tell Jazzy that she was 'sorry for being selfish.'
The dog owner told police the dog is usually kept inside, but had been taken outdoors after she 'made a mess in her crate,' Fox 5 Vegas reported.
She was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a felony charge of willful and malicious torture, maiming, or killing of a dog.
Underwood has since posted bail, and she was indicted by a grand jury on a cruelty to animals felony charge on Tuesday.
The dog was left 'outside and locked in a crate with no food or water and with no way to cool herself from the heat of the day, resulting in Jazzy's death,' according to the indictment.
Underwood has three previous documented incidents with Animal Protection Services in the county, including a 2016 incident where she left a Pitbull without enough shelter in 35-degree weather, according to The Review-Journal.
She had also previously brought Jazzy to the vet in 2024, but refused medical care and left, Fox 5 Vegas reported.
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