Stanwood woman charged with cruelty to dogs

Published 10:50 pm Monday, September 29, 2008

A Stanwood woman is accused of starving a family of Siberian huskies and causing the death of two puppies.

Mary Romero, 58, was charged Monday in Snohomish County Superior Court with first-degree animal cruelty.

Prosecutors allege Romero didn’t feed the two adult dogs and a litter of puppies to the point that two puppies died from starvation and the remaining animals were severely malnourished, according to court documents.

Romero told police that the dogs belonged to her husband, who had left her, according to the documents. She said she’d tried to find a shelter for the dogs because she couldn’t afford to feed them. She said her husband refused to bring food for the dogs.

Police reported finding several large bags of dog food at the woman’s house. They also noted there was a cocker spaniel on the property that appeared to be well-fed.

The woman’s husband told police he bought food for the dogs. He believes Romero withheld food from the animals to spite him, according to court documents.