Woman in dog deaths case now in Hall County Jail

The woman accused in the deaths of 23 dogs near Grand Island was booked into the Hall County Jail on Monday.

Denise K. Withee, 46, of Mapleton, Iowa, had been undergoing mental evaluation in Hastings.

Hall County Chief Deputy Sheriff Chris Rea said Withee was booked into the jail on three counts of animal neglect resulting in death, which are Class 4 felonies.

No charges had been filed as of this afternoon, however.

Withee is expected to be arraigned in Hall County Court at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

She was arrested in Grand Island on Aug. 2 after 20 dead dogs were found in a cornfield outside town. Three additional dogs that were found in the field died shortly after they were discovered.

Rea said previously that the dogs were various small breeds and none of them were puppies. It appears that they died of dehydration and heat exhaustion, but tests were being done on tissue samples.

A syringe without a needle was also found in the cornfield.

Authorities said that, when Withee was arrested, she had 13 additional dogs in her possession. The surviving dogs are being cared for by the Central Nebraska Humane Society.

Roland G. Bowling, also known as Ronald Lancaster, 50, of 2534 W. North Front St., has been charged with being an accessory to a felony and providing false information to law enforcement officials in the case. He's being held in the Hall County Jail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 6.

Withee is facing additional charges in Iowa for 20 dogs that were found running at large and 27 more dogs that were found in two separate homes in Monona County, Iowa, said Sgt. Roger Krohn of the Monona County Sheriff's Department.

Mapleton is in Monona County.

According to the Associated Press, some of those dogs were in such poor condition that they had to be euthanized.

Krohn said, for "all intents and purposes," Withee had been charged in Iowa. He is meeting with the county attorney there on Tuesday to determine how many charges of misdemeanor animal abandonment and neglect will be filed.

"If I have my way, it will be more than 20," he said.