Washington County, UT: In 2011, 26-year-old Lace Walker gave a not guilty plea to the misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty. She was charged with the starvation of Cookie, a dog she had recently adopted from the St. George Animal Shelter in March.
Cookie was a tiny 6-month-old poodle mix who was described as being vivacious and full of energy when she was adopted by Walker. But in a matter of weeks, she was reduced to only a skeletal remnant of her former self, relegated to a back yard where she suffered alone with the ache of hunger in her tiny belly.
A friend of Walker's husband, Jessi Call, had visited the home and found Cookie in the yard, completely emaciated. Walker's excuse was that she had run out of food and had been unable to feed Cookie for days.
It was touch and go for little Cookie with initial beliefs that she wouldn't survive, but then she rallied for a short period in the care of a loving foster family. She was found to have distemper and developed blindness, deafness and weakness and sadly finally had to be put to sleep last June. Her foster family did everything humanly possible to save this precious girl, but what had been set into motion by the neglect was just too much to overcome.
Advocates were outraged at the case of alleged known starvation of little Cookie. Protestors came out en masse at the courthouse on the day of Walker's initial hearing, jeering and holding signs.
A Facebook page was created called "Cookie's Hope", where updates have been posted about this innocent little girl and the hearing dates for Walker's trial, along with a Chip-In set up asking for donations to help with her care. She was fostered by a loving advocate from the Homeless Animal Rescue Team (HART), who hand-fed her with a syringe and made certain Cookie had all of the medical care, love and kindness she needed and deserved.
There is a petition circulating thanks to the caring advocates at Hand4Paws, seeking the maximum possible sentence for Lace Walker if convicted of the cruelty charges currently pending against her. Local advocates in Utah know all too well the current laws are all subject to interpretation by the judge hearing the case, but they are fighting for justice for the horrible suffering and eventual death this precious, innocent little dog endured.
If you would like to add you voice to this petition, you can access it here or at the link provided below. It's impossible to imagine the kind of suffering little Cookie must have endured day after day, hoping for a kind hand and just a morcel of food. But her agonized wait went far too long and the neglect she suffered from not getting the inexpensive and vital vaccination to prevent the disease of distemper took her life. She was just a baby, never having had a chance to really live the way she should have.
Rest in peace little Cookie. Know that your life mattered and at least at the end you knew true love and gentle kindness before you had to go the Rainbow Bridge. Advocates will speak for you now, and hope for justice for you.
Click here to sign the petition: "Justice for Cookie! Adopted sick and starved dog."
Click here for the Facebook page Cookie's Hope.
Click here for the Hand4Paws Facebook page for other open petitions.
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