A Denver animal-control officer is almost certain to lose her job with the city after her conviction on two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty after a dog died and another suffered heatstroke in the back of her work van.
Jennifer Mooney, 33, also faces up to two years in the Denver County Jail when she’s sentenced in March.
The state Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act bars people with animal-cruelty convictions from holding jobs handling animals, said Doug Kelley, director of Denver Animal Care and Control.
He called Mooney “an exceptional animal-control officer” who cared about animals and made a mistake.
She will undergo a civil process through the safety manager’s office that will likely cost her the position, Kelley said.
On Tuesday, a jury decided that Mooney acted negligently when she left the dogs in the uncooled cargo area of her work van July 29, 2010, and outside temperatures reached the 80s.
One stray Rottweiler was found dead.
A second suffered seizures.
Mooney’s attorney, Scott Nelson, argued that a faulty temperature gauge led her to believe the cargo area was cool enough.
Kelley said the van was inspected and all equipment — including the temperature gauge — was functioning properly.
“Jennifer Mooney failed to check on those dogs,” prosecutor Melissa Fox argued during the trial. “This is not a systematic problem. This was Jennifer Mooney sitting in the car, listening to the radio and leaving the dogs in her car.”
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
