No-show Hilton Head pet-sitter gets jail time after dog died under her care

A former Beaufort Marine pleaded guilty to five felony counts of animal cruelty after neglecting to care for five pets she was hired to watch by a Hilton Head Island couple, leaving one dog to die of starvation and another seriously injured.

Following a tense and tearful proceeding Wednesday afternoon, 21-year-old Victoria Spencer received a 179-day sentence followed by five years of probation and was ordered to pay $7,716 in restitution to the victims. Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen allowed her to serve time at the Beaufort County Detention Center rather than a state prison, asking her to turn herself in at the local jail by 6 p.m. Friday.

The sentence was stricter than prosecutors' initial recommendation, which included no jail time in exchange for probation and restitution payments covering the pet owners' veterinarian bills. After consulting with the case's attorneys and taking a 10-minute break to "think about it," Mullen handed down her final sentence.

"I understand you were young when this happened. You were 19 years of age, but you were also in the military; you were trained in certain ways to do what was right," Mullen told the defendant. "We love our pets. We take care of our pets, and they can't take care of themselves — it's our responsibility as humans to do that."

Because she had no prior criminal record, Spencer qualified for South Carolina's Youthful Offender Act , which gives judges the option to override certain sentencing guidelines for younger defendants and impose probation as an alternative. In all other cases, state law requires a prison sentence between 180 days and five years for those convicted of felony animal cruelty.

Spencer was hired via the online pet-sitting service Trusted Housesitters by a couple in the Hilton Head Plantation private community. She was asked to watch their two cats and three dogs for a nine-day period in September 2023, agreeing to regularly visit the home to feed the animals and let the dogs out of their kennels.

Ring camera footage showed that Spencer's visits to the home at one point abruptly stopped, meaning the dogs were left in their crates without access to food and water, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office. Different accounts of the event offer varying timelines — her defense attorney claimed a two-day absence while investigators at the time said the animals were left for five days.

Returning to the home on Sept. 14, 2023, Spencer discovered the "horrific scene" brought about by the neglect. Both of the Australian shepherds' kennels were "cluttered with feces" and tattered bedding. One dog, Stryker, had died of dehydration. The other, Roxie, was severely dehydrated and had visible hair loss, with injuries to its snout, paws and nails from trying to escape its cage.

Police noted that the cats appeared uninjured but their food and water bowls were empty. Their litter box was reportedly "completely full," with feces and urine found throughout the house.

Roxie survived after intensive medical care at two local veterinary hospitals, according to owners Jeff and Julie Tomlinson. The dog was back in good health about a month later, after weeks of carefully measuring his food portions to avoid refeeding syndrome .

Before leaving on vacation, the owners left Spencer two pages of "detailed instructions" on caring for the animals, including the names and numbers of two neighbors who could fill in as caregivers if conflicts arose, Jeff told the judge Wednesday afternoon.

But the "really troubling" part of the crime was that Spencer sent the owners misleading updates about the animals while failing to visit them, Jeff said. Addressing the court, he read excerpts of texts the couple received from the pet-sitter. One message claimed she "had to run to work early" but would take the dogs for a walk later that night.

In another text, Spencer expressed apprehension about leaving the animals alone for a six-hour period.

"I've never left them alone more than two hours," Jeff read from his printed notes. "And boy, do I miss them."

Defendant says 'I'm sorry'

Spencer received an "other than honorable" discharge from the U.S. Marines following her arrest, according to her defense attorney Chad Shelton. She moved back to North Carolina with her parents and began working at Food Lion, "trying to put her life back together," he said. Under Mullen's ruling, she will continue to undergo counseling.

Stopping the defense attorney mid-sentence, Mullen bluntly questioned the defendant's actions: "But why lie? Why send texts to the owners and say that she was going when she wasn't?"

In response, Shelton said he "chalked that up to being young."

"In talking with Victoria in the last year, I've never gotten the feeling that she dislikes pets in any way," he said. "I think it was just things got overwhelmed in her life, and she didn't go and check on them."

With trembling hands and tears in her eyes, Spencer apologized to the victims and took responsibility for the neglect.

"I want to mainly say I'm sorry. If I would have known what was going to happen to the animals, I wouldn't have ever done anything like that," she said. "Honestly, it is my fault, because it was my foolishness and my lack of knowledge ... for not putting two and two together. ... I want to put my life on track in the right way, and I want to show to everybody that I can be a changed person and a better person."

Shelton did not respond to a request for comment made Wednesday afternoon.

Was it a fair sentence?

Speaking outside the courtroom Wednesday afternoon, Jeff and Julie Tomlinson expressed relief that the court process had finally concluded — almost a year after the nightmare began.

Jeff spoke positively about Spencer's heightened sentence, saying he thought his impact statement and their neighbors' letters to Mullen helped convince the judge to impose jail time.

"(Spencer's) crime was putting animals in their crates, essentially a cell," he said. "So if there's ever a crime that seems appropriate to have this type of sentence, it seems like it would be this."

The couple said Roxie was back to being a happy and healthy dog, but still wasn't quite the same since the incident. For months afterward, Jeff said, she would wander over to Stryker's favorite spots in the house and look up at her owners sadly, "wondering where her brother is."

Jeff added that Trusted Housesitters "took full responsibility" for the incident, paying the couple's vet bills in full without being asked. Any restitution payments the couple received would be donated to Hilton Head's Plantation Animal Hospital and New River Veterinary Specialists in Hardeeville, Julie said, both of whom were instrumental in saving Roxie's life.

The pet-sitting company told the couple it was bolstering its screening practices to avoid rare situations like these, Jeff said. He highlighted the fact that Spencer was 20 years old when the incident occurred, falling below the 21-and-over requirement to become a member of Trusted Housesitters.

For that reason and more, Jeff said it was difficult to accept the defendant's apology. He added that Spencer falsely claimed she was a member of the military police, an assertion that initially strengthened the couple's trust in her.

"She lied on her application. She lied about being an MP. She lied about watching the dogs. She is a liar," Jeff said. "And therefore, it's difficult to accept that statement."

Jeff and Julie made their way back to the courthouse's parking lot, ready to begin the long drive home to Hilton Head Plantation. Back at the house, four furry friends would be happy to see them return.