Woman jailed after malnourished dog found dead in her sweltering garage at northwest Dallas apartment complex

TEXAS -- A woman faces an animal cruelty charge after her malnourished dog was found dead in her sweltering northwest Dallas apartment garage on Tuesday evening, according to police records.

Brianna Burkowski, 20, whose listed employer is The Men’s Club, is being held at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center, where her bail is set at $1,500. The state jail felony charge carries a maximum punishment of two years in a state jail.

Brianna Burkowski

Dallas police officers arrived at the complex in the 10100 block of West Technology Boulevard about 5:30 p.m. They were there in response to a report of a foul odor and what appeared to be dried blood coming from Burkowski’s garage, the records said.

A leasing agent for the apartment complex told officers that “Burkowski is known to leave her dog, a mature saint bernard, in the … garage during all hours of the day and night, even when the outside air temperature is approximately 100 degrees,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The leasing agent told the officers she feared the dog was dead inside the garage, police said.

The officers tracked down Burkowski at her apartment and she told them that her dog had died on Monday and “she had wrapped the dog up in a blanket,” the affidavit said.

Asked why she had not disposed of her pet’s body, Burkowski said “that he was too heavy for her to move,” the affidavit said.

The officers contacted Animal Control and asked Burkowski to open the garage, which she did.

Inside, the officers found the dog so malnourished that its ribs were protruding, police said.

There was inadequate food or water for the dog and it was not properly sheltered from the heat in Burkowski’s “extremely hot garage,” police said.

(Dallas News - Aug 14 2013)