Two Vancouver women charged with animal cruelty in deaths of pit bull, rabbit
Two Vancouver women appeared Thursday in Clark County Superior Court after an animal cruelty investigation found multiple pets had been left in sweltering apartments without adequate food or water, resulting in the deaths of a dog and a rabbit.
Destinee Caryn Farmer, 36, and Desiree Tamyra Carr, 45, face two counts of first-degree animal cruelty and one count of second-degree animal cruelty.
The sisters appeared before Judge Robert Lewis on a court summons and were ordered not to have any contact with animals. Farmer said in court she has an emotional support animal, but Lewis maintained his order.
Prosecutors requested the sisters have no contact with one another, but Lewis declined.
They're scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
The investigation began when Farmer called Clark County Animal Protection and Control on Aug. 7, asking for help with disposing of her dead dog and rabbit at her apartment on Northeast 28th Street in east Vancouver.
Farmer told animal control officers she had left town a month earlier on July 5, having arranged for Carr and another person to care for her three pets: a yellow leopard gecko named Banana, a pit bull mix named Bella and a domestic rabbit named Cookie, court records state.
When two animal control officers arrived, they found Cookie significantly decomposed and Bella deceased inside a shut kennel. The kennel was saturated in animal waste, and neither animal had any apparent access to water, according to court records.
A veterinarian at the Humane Society for Southwest Washington later examined the remains and found that Bella was emaciated. She noted the dog had died in distress inside the enclosure. The rabbit's remains indicated she had been dead for an extended period, and her enclosure contained a large amount of feces, according to the court documents.
Two neighbors reported a foul odor in early to mid-July. Another neighbor reported that a dog in Farmer's unit typically barked two to three times a day but fell silent in late July, court records state.
During the investigation, animal control officers interviewed Carr who allegedly admitted she had left Bella locked in the kennel for a majority of the time the dog was under her care. She allegedly said she fed and watered the dog by placing a little food and water in small trays affixed to the kennel door, according to court records. The officer wrote this seemed inadequate for a dog of Bella's size, especially considering the hot weather at the time.
Carr said she found Bella dead around July 28 but that she had seen the dog alive just the day prior. The officer found this improbable, according to the court documents. The officer also questioned how Carr could have missed the severity of the situation.
The other person caring for the animals told officers he had discovered the rabbit dead and decomposing during a July 12 visit. He said he had later warned Carr that Bella was unwell and needed to be seen by a vet soon, but Carr showed "no concern or urgency," according to court records.
While interviewing Carr at her home, the officer observed Carr's own dog, a poodle also named Cookie, panting profusely inside a kennel of inadequate size with no bedding, food or water. Carr had to be prompted to give the dog water. Two pugs were also seen shut outside on a balcony with no food and little water, court records state.
The officer concluded the investigation by stating that both Farmer and Carr failed to ensure their animals were adequately cared for in their absence, which appeared to be the contributing factor in the animals' deaths.
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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 6:04 PM.