Pa. county official pleads guilty to animal cruelty in dog's death, avoids jail time

A western Pennsylvania county official has pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty in an agreement with prosecutors that spares her jail time but requires her to resign her post at the end of the month.

Washington County Controller April Sloane, 43, entered the plea Thursday in county court, acknowledging having caused the death of her dog, Thor, after failing to give the animal food or water for several days before his Nov. 27 death, The (Washington) Observer-Reporter reported.

Sloane had been scheduled for trial this week, but defense attorney Louis Emmi approached prosecutors about a plea before Thursday's pre-trial conference, officials said. Prosecutors required that Sloane plead guilty to 3rd-degree felony aggravated animal cruelty, serve five years' probation and resign as county controller by Sept. 30.

Sloane and her attorney declined comment as they left court, the newspaper reported.

Sloane was arrested in December after North Strabane Township police filed the charges following a necropsy that concluded the dog died of “severe emaciation” and weighed only 20 pounds, less than half of what its weight should have been. Authorities were told that Sloane declined to take the animal to a veterinarian, although officials said an emergency veterinary clinic is located less than 500 feet from Sloane’s house.

The dog’s body was found stuffed in a garbage bag in a back corner of Sloane’s garage as authorities served a search warrant at her home on Dec. 6.

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Sloane, a Republican, was elected in November 2021 to a term that was to have run through 2025.