Georgia woman sentenced to prison for leaving puppies to die in hot container

CANTON, Ga. - A Canton woman has been sentenced to 10 years after officials say she left multiple puppies to die on the side of the road.

On Sept. 12, 31-year-old Amber Kay Higdon pleaded guilty to seven counts of aggravated cruelty to animals.

Officials say the charges come from an investigation that began on July 27, 2023, after a concerned citizen found the bodies of seven puppies abandoned in a pink plastic tote on the side of Pine Lane.

According to deputies, Higdon had gone to the Cherokee County Animal Shelter to turn in the puppies but left when a shelter employee asked her for her driver's license.

Amber Kay Higdon (Cherokee County Sheriffs Office)

While Higdon was going to pick up her ID, officials say she became annoyed by the whining of the puppies and told the driver to pull over. She then left the seven puppies trapped in the tote on the side of the road with no food or water. Temperatures that day went up to 95 degrees. The animals stayed there for more than six hours, officials said.

According to the driver, a co-defendant in this case, Higdon returned to the vehicle, and "expressed relief that she could no longer hear the puppies whimpering and the vehicle was quiet," officials said.

A necropsy of the puppies showed they died from pulmonary edema, pulmonary hemorrhage, and cardiac arrest. They were all about three weeks old.

Higdon admitted to officers that she left the puppies near the road, saying that she thought someone would find them.

"The defendant committed a crime against one of the most vulnerable groups in our society," said Assistant District Attorney Rachel Murphy. "Animals rely on us as humans for all their needs, and the defendant discarded these puppies on the side of the road as if they were trash. The defendant’s action led to an extremely painful death for seven innocent puppies, which no living being deserves to endure."

Following her guilty plea, a judge sentenced Higdon to 10 years with the first two in prison. She's forbidden from owning or having any contact with animals during the rest of her probation.