Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested 18 people over the weekend between 6 p.m. on Friday, July 24, 2026, and 6 a.m. on Monday, July 27, 2026, while responding to 787 calls for service and conducting 124 traffic stops. Among those taken into custody was a Palatka woman accused of leaving a nursing dog and eight puppies in a garage during 97-degree heat.
Deputies responded to a residence on Rolland Lane in Palm Coast just before 1:30 p.m. Saturday after a DoorDash driver reported seeing a two-level cage in a partially open garage.
The driver noticed a two-year-old American Bully named Envy in the lower cage and eight four-and-a-half-week-old puppies in the top section, with no visible food or water as the animals panted in the heat.
Upon arrival, deputies observed the eight puppies lying on top of each other sharing a bowl with minimal water, while Envy was panting heavily with an empty bowl. Outside temperatures reached 97 degrees.
Shafaira Johnson, 36, of Palatka, came out of the home and stated she expected the delivery driver to call law enforcement. Johnson denied the deputy access to the garage and stated she could not move the dogs inside because she was waiting for someone to return with her vehicle.
At 1:40 p.m., deputies instructed Johnson to provide water to Envy. Johnson initially declined, stating the dog had been watered earlier and would vomit if she drank too much. She filled the water bowl nine minutes later following a second order from the deputy.
When Animal Control was called to the scene, Johnson attempted to close the garage door. After being directed to reopen it, she began putting the puppies into a cardboard box and read a text message to the deputy claiming law enforcement lacked authority to enter.
Citing exigent circumstances due to the extreme heat and animal safety, deputies ordered her to reopen the door multiple times, which she refused while standing between the deputy and the vehicle.
A man arrived at the location just before 2:45 p.m. and handed over the cardboard box containing the panting puppies. An Animal Control investigator placed the puppies and Envy into an air-conditioned vehicle.
“Eight puppies and their mother barked for help as they baked in a 97-degree garage,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Thankfully, a DoorDash driver ‘saw something and said something,’ and now all nine dogs are safe, cool, and being cared for. If you can’t take care of your animals, surrender them. Lately we have arrested far too many people who don’t care about their animals’ well-being. Don’t lock your pets in conditions you wouldn’t want to live in yourself.”
Johnson was arrested on charges of animal cruelty, confinement of animals without sufficient food or water, and resisting an officer without violence. She was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and later released on a $1,500 bond.
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