TACOMA — A Spanaway woman who allowed her great Dane to starve to death earlier this year during a hard time for her family escaped jail time Wednesday but was ordered to pay $2,400 in fines and court costs.
Melissa Ramos, 29, also is prohibited by state law from ever again owning a dog after she pleaded guilty in Pierce County Superior Court to felony first-degree animal cruelty.
She admitted as part of her plea agreement that she underfed her 2-year-old dog, Zeus, and that he died as a result.
The dog previously had been sick, Ramos wrote in her plea paperwork, and she’d spent $2,000 on vet bills during a time when her husband was unemployed. It was after that when she allowed the dog to starve.
Her attorney also pointed out his client had been diagnosed with depression around the same time.
“I know it’s my fault,” Ramos wrote. “I feel awful.”
A veterinarian reported his concerns about the great Dane to animal control officers in January after seeing how underweight Zeus was.
The dog weighed 55 pounds when he died, court records show. Adult male great Danes normally weigh 135 to 170 pounds, according to the website all-about-great-danes.com.
Deputy prosecutor Dru Swaim recommended a sentence of two months in jail for Ramos but said the state did not object to that time being served on house arrest.
The maximum penalty was up to a year in jail.
Defense attorney Thomas Balerud urged Judge Vicki Hogan to accept Swaim’s recommendation, pointing out his client has five children and is truly remorseful for what happened to Zeus.
“This, for her, will have profound collateral consequences,” Balerud said.
Ramos, who cried throughout the hearing, declined to make a statement on her own behalf.
Hogan then imposed the financial penalties but said Ramos would not have to spend time in custody.
The judge did not explain her reasoning.
