After 38 years of marriage, Cathryn Washington and her husband recently separated. Ms. Washington wanted to move away from their Seattle home – all the way across the country to West Virginia in fact – and demanded she be allowed to take the couple’s 14 year old Labrador, Delta, with her.
Never mind that Delta was more of a daddy’s girl (Mr. Washington still has her puppy teeth as a keepsake), or the stress that it would cause an elderly dog to move across the country in these circumstances, or the fact that it’s HOT right now – Ms. Washington is a former nursing professor so presumably she would know how to take good care of a pet.
Delta lived just 11 days in Ms. Washington’s care before suffering a cruel and entirely preventable death:
Cathryn Washington, 67, left 14-year-old Delta in the vehicle as she ran in [to Costco] to buy some pet products on an afternoon when the temperature hit 104 degrees, said Sgt. David Luckenbaugh of Frederick Animal Control.
She intended to just be 15 minutes or so, she later told her estranged husband, Charles Washington. She returned after about an hour and 15 minutes to find Delta clinging to life.
Clinging to life. That sounds dire. And so naturally, being a former nursing professor, Ms. Washington acted quickly – to get her money back:
Luckenbaugh said the precise moment of Delta’s death was unclear. After Cathryn returned to the vehicle, investigators say she went back inside the Costco and returned the dog food, bedding and treats she had purchased. At that point, she told Costco employees the dog was dead, authorities said.
Dead, clinging to life – eh, what’s the diff? Can I get cash on these returns or do I have to take store credit?
The store called AC on her and they caught up with Ms. Washington somewhere else. (She probably had other errands to run, pets to kill, etc.) Ms. Washington has been charged with animal cruelty and her court date is set for August 31.