They left 13 dogs in a hot car for hours, Missouri cops say. Now they face charges

Police have arrested a woman and man from Missouri after they were accused of putting 13 dogs in a car early one morning last week and leaving them there for hours, leading one to die of a heat stroke.

Sharon Kibbee, 63, and Michael Jones, 51, both from Richwoods, are facing 13 counts of animal abuse, according to a spokesman with the Ellisville Police Department. The two have since been released from custody and are scheduled to appear in court June 14.

Kibbee and Jones were arrested after witnesses allegedly saw them placing dogs inside a car between 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. May 22 in the back parking lot of a distribution center. The car belonged to a woman, whom police have identified as Kibbee.

By 9:30 a.m. that day, a worker saw the dogs in distress inside the car and called police. The outside temperature was nearly 75 degrees, enough to cause overheating, police said.

The dogs — mostly Lab mix pups — also appeared to be malnourished and infested with fleas.

Two dogs in serious condition were taken to a veterinarian clinic nearby, where one died of an apparent heat stroke. The remaining dogs were taken to St. Louis County animal control.

This story was originally published May 31, 2018 at 9:09 AM with the headline "They left 13 dogs in a hot car for hours, Missouri cops say. Now they face charges."