Las Vegas woman charged with killing dogs by locking them in garage

A Las Vegas woman has been arrested after police said she locked two pit bulls in a hot garage when it was 111 degrees outside, killing both dogs.

Iesha Hill, 30, was taken into custody at her home near West Tropicana Avenue and Jones Boulevard on Monday after she called Clark County Animal Control to report the death of her dogs. A Las Vegas police arrest report indicates she initially told investigators that her pit bulls, Dice, 4, and Diamond, 1, had gotten sick and died.

But police said when they examined the dogs, it appeared the animals had been living in the garage, and they questioned Hill’s contention that the dogs had access to the backyard and house when the garage’s door was shut and that she often used a fan to prop open a door and circulate air in the garage.

“(An animal control officer) observed that both dogs in the garage appeared to have been living there for an excessive period of time,” police said. “Upon further investigation, the garage smelled heavily of urine and feces, and feces could be seen covering the concrete floor and dog cages.”

Police said the dogs had no access to food or water. Their deaths, police said, were consistent with “heat exhaustion” along with “continual and prolonged neglect.”

“Diamond had lacerations on her snout, which (a detective) later informed officers was consistent with evidence that the animal was in a panicked state and was attempting to dig its’ nose into the concrete in order to find cooler air,” police said.

Hill was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on two counts of willful killing of a dog. She made an initial appearance in Las Vegas Justice Court Tuesday morning and remained in custody Tuesday afternoon.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.