Hertford County Resident Criminally Charged After Dogs Found Starving, Dying

For Immediate Release:
February 13, 2026

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Ahoskie, N.C. –

Hertford County resident JaMontay Jefferson is facing cruelty-to-animals charges in Hertford County District Court after Animal Control found two dogs starving, emaciated, and left to die inside an Ahoskie home. The court date is set for February 17.

After receiving a complaint from a concerned neighbor, Hertford County Animal Control arrived at the property on August 27, where two dogs—SJ and Luna—were found near death and surrounded by piles of trash with no water or food in sight. Luna was brought to the Hertford County Animal Shelter, where she is recovering, but SJ’s condition was critical. The animal control officer called a PETA fieldworker for help, and PETA immediately responded and rushed SJ to a local veterinarian, where he was found to be emaciated, suffering from dehydration, hypothermia, persistent bloody diarrhea, and too weak to stand. His condition quickly deteriorated, and the veterinarian euthanized SJ due to his extreme suffering and grave prognosis.

“PETA’s fieldworkers have witnessed an alarming uptick in cruelty-to-animals cases over the past months, and it is vital for kind people to report abuse when they see it,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA hopes that Jefferson, and anyone who abuses animals, is held accountable and prohibited from ever having animals again.”

*SJ after he was rescued from the Ahoskie property. Credit: PETA*

PETA points out that in Ahoskie, just this past December, PETA fieldworkers found the body of a dog named Coco tethered by a heavy metal chain to a doghouse, just feet away from an emaciated, chained dog named Lucky, with no food or water in sight. The animals’ owner told the fieldworker that no one had bothered to feed or water the dogs for a month.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.