Jacqueline Witt, the 64-year mother of a scam dog trainer, has been arrested for animal cruelty and tampering with evidence after allowing a professional poker player’s dog to die and trying to hide its corpse.
The Connecticut woman was associated with a dog boarding business that trained and boarded dogs. According to the police, the business had taken in four dogs in addition to the bulldog of Bart Hanson, a famous poker player.
Hanson handed the animal to Josephine Ragland, 27, Witt’s daughter, who was running the business, a year ago. Since the woman seemed like a normal animal lover, the poker professional felt comfortable with her taking his dog for a two-week training course.
Unfortunately, Charlie the bulldog passed away soon after because of neglect-induced heatstroke. According to detectives, it had died between three and five days after being taken by Ragland. The most likely cause was determined to be a heatstroke caused by a lack of food and water.
Ragland later admitted that she had gone on a casino bender for several days after picking up the animal.
Ragland and Her Mother Lied to Their Clients and the Police
Instead of admitting their negligence, the dog boarders lied to Hanson, claiming that the dog was doing fine. Ragland, who was using the fake alias Lilly the whole time, kept sending Hanson images and videos of the dog, which were taken earlier.
Witt, who is believed to be an accomplice, dumped Charlie’s body on the side of the road several dozen miles away from her home. In the meantime, her daughter claimed that the dog had escaped from her broken car and had been hit by a vehicle. She lied about Charlie being buried in her backyard. When asked to show where the dog was buried, she lied that its body had been unearthed by wild animals.
Witt was likewise dishonest about Charlie’s fate, telling multiple lies. Hanson, however, was suspicious and involved the police, which found the dog’s body some 30-ish minutes away from Ragland’s home, where it had been dumped by Witt.
The other four dogs in Ragland and Witt’s care were in poor condition, according to reports.
Hanson was charged with larceny in Massachusetts and faces similar charges in California over the death of another dog. That case saw Raglan try to pass a different German shepherd as the dog of a previous client. The substitute animal was aggressive and clearly wasn’t the one the client had given her.
Witt, meanwhile, faces four counts of animal cruelty and a single count of tampering with evidence. She was released on a $50K bond and is set to be arraigned on September 19.
