A Sterlington woman has been arrested following a report dogs were dumped at a church near Farmerville last week.
The Union Parish Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest last week after investigating a pastor’s report that four dogs had been abandoned at a church.
On September 11, a Union Parish church pastor began circulating a video on social media announcing someone deliberately abandoned the dogs in the church parking lot. The video showed the action without revealing the suspect’s identity or vehicle information. The pastor pleaded for the person to return and retrieve the dogs and no criminal action would be taken. The video was viewed over 5,000 times, but the person who abandoned the dogs did not attempt to collect the dogs.
The next day, the pastor shared another video that included the suspect’s vehicle, where the make and model could be clearly identified, and offered once more, for the person to take accountability for their actions and no criminal charges would be pursued. Again, despite this video being shared and viewed more than 15,000 times, no contact was made with the pastor.
UPSO deputies investigated and identified the owner of the dogs as Jacquelynn Marie Foster, 40, of Sterlington. Deputies contacted Foster at her residence, and she admitted abandoning the dogs at the church. Foster was arrested and booked into the Union Parish Detention Center for cruelty to animals.
A UPSO statement said, “Through much patience and diligence by the pastor, all four dogs have been adopted to new homes and were provided spay/neuter services by the Union Humane Society.”
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
