A jury found 35-year-old Monique Tolbert guilty on Wednesday, July 17 of third-degree animal cruelty, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release.
Tolbert called Atlantic City police to give up her dog named Handsome on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. When officers arrived, they found the emaciated and dehydrated dog wandering the hallway of Tolbert's apartment building without a collar.
Handsome was brought to the Humane Society of Atlantic County for treatment. Investigators said he weighed less than half as much as a dog like him should weigh, and his hair and skin suffered from urine scalding.
Handsome was also found with several pressure point sores on his body.
"We urge our citizens to contact their local police departments to report animal cruelty and that neglect is a form of animal cruelty," the prosecutor's office said in a news release.
Tolbert was scheduled for sentencing in September.
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