(Des Moines, Iowa) – A central Iowa man was arrested this week on two counts of Animal Neglect – Serious Injury or Death, in the case of two puppies who were found emaciated and dehydrated this past week, on one of the hottest days of the year. 32-year-old Nathaniel Darnell Bifford, of Des Moines was taken into custody. According to court documents, Bifford failed to provide the animals with adequate shelter and caused unjustified pain, distress or suffering.

Officials with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa (ARL), said “Zeus” and “Kyda” were suffering from starvation, and were rescued just in time. The animals were covered in their own waste. “The dogs were so weak from starvation and dehydration that their legs shook as they walked,” according to ARL officials. “Even scarier,” they said, “we learned that Kyda had been found lying on a balcony in the direct sun with no water, no shelter and no way to get indoors. The heat index was in the hundreds. It was dangerous for any animal to be out, much less a puppy who was already dangerously thin and dehydrated. If she had not been rescued when she was, she easily could have died.”

The rescued dogs & the man who was arrested for Animal neglect. (6/17/22)