Teen accused, with mother, in dog’s death

The daughter of a Washougal woman accused of letting the family’s dog starve and freeze to death in a garage was in court Tuesday to also face an allegation of animal abuse.

Skylar P. Stevens, 18, of Washougal appeared in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree animal cruelty in the death of 6-year-old Frantic, a male pit bull. Stevens’ mother, 37-year-old Melissa M. Stevens, was in court last week on the same allegation.

On Jan. 6, Skylar Stevens’ grandmother, Debra Mattila, called 911 after finding Frantic malnourished and frozen to death in the shop of the attached garage of a house in the 500 block of K Street. Mattila told law enforcement and animal control officers she had been asking both women about Frantic’s condition. Both reportedly told her they had been feeding the dog, providing him with a heat source and checking on him, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Frantic was kept in the locked shop on a cold concrete floor, covered with urine and feces, court records state, and in 20-degree temperatures.

Another family member told officers they last saw the dog healthy and of normal weight in mid-November. Skylar Stevens reportedly said she fed Frantic that morning, and he was fine then, and the heater was on, the affidavit said.

The dog had decent living conditions, Melissa Stevens said. The heater may have come unplugged, she said, resulting in the dog’s death. Mattila told officers that when she discovered Frantic, the heater was blowing cold air, court documents show.

According to the officers who responded, the dog’s water bowl was frozen, his bed was torn and chewed up, and there was no food in sight.

A necropsy performed the next day found that Frantic weighed about half his weight as documented the year before. And the veterinarian concluded that Frantic died of malnourishment and freezing. There was no food in his stomach or digestive tract, according to the affidavit.

On Tuesday, Judge Daniel Stahnke appointed Skylar Stevens an attorney and set her bail at $5,000. She will be arraigned, along with her mother, Friday.