A University of Alaska Fairbanks student faces a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals for allegedly starving two dogs.

Fairbanks North Star Borough Animal Control officers visited a Hess Village apartment at UAF on Sept. 24 after they received a report that two dogs were underweight, according to a criminal complaint filed in October. The Animal Control officers told UAF police officers that the dogs appeared emaciated and they saw no visible water sources for the animals.

The two dogs, Bonnie and Gambler, were owned by 25-year-old UAF student Ashanti Dequarius Bennett. According to court documents, Bennett said that he feeds the dogs one cup of rice per day and occasionally fed them a protein source. Bennett does not feed them dog food but feeds whatever food he makes, “for example,

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