GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A woman who was found guilty of animal cruelty after she was found with 27 dogs living in her minivan has been sentenced.
A jury found Heather Nicole Alexander guilty of a charge of abandoning or cruelty to 25 or more animals in October. She was sentenced Wednesday to two years of probation.
Her probation restricts her from having more than one animal at any time, and that animal must be spayed or neutered. She is not allowed to be involved in animal breeding. Alexander also has to pay nearly $2,000 in fees. She was sentenced to two days in jail but she has already served it.
Woman convicted of animal cruelty after 27 dogs found in van
The charges stem from March 2022, when the dogs, mostly chihuahuas, were discovered in Alexander’s minivan, which was in a business parking lot off Alpine Avenue NW near 4 Mile Road in Alpine Township. According to investigators, the dogs were in cages that were stacked atop one another, with up to five dogs per cage.
