A woman who left seven three-week-old puppies trapped in a plastic tote in 95 degree heat this summer near a Georgia highway has been sentenced to prison after confessing to the crime, prosecutors said.

The puppies died and Amber Kay Higdon, 31, pleaded guilty last week to seven counts of aggravated cruelty to animals in connection to the felony crime, Cherokee County District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway announced Thursday.

The city is just under 40 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Higdon left the puppies on the side or a road near Marietta Highway on July 27, a day when temperatures reached a high of 95 degrees, prosecutors said in a released statement. She left the vulnerable animals with no food, water, or shelter and the puppies were too small to climb out of the tote, an investigation found.

"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," Assistant District Attorney Rachel Murphy, who prosecuted the case, released in a statement. "The defendant’s action led to an extremely painful death for seven innocent puppies, which no living being deserves to endure.”

'Annoyed with the sound of the whining puppies'

An investigation by the Cherokee County Marshal's Office found on the day Higdon left the animals to day, she visited the Cherokee County Animal Shelter to turn in seven puppies, which were about three weeks old. '

When a shelter employee asked Higdon to provide her driver’s license, the statement continues, she left the shelter to get her license but never returned.

Instead, Higdon got into a vehicle and left with the puppies. While in the vehicle, "Higdon became annoyed with the sound of the whining puppies and instructed the driver to pull over," the statement continues. She then removed the plastic tote with puppies inside and left it on the side of the road, with no food, water, or shelter. The puppies were too small to climb out of the tote, which was not covered with a lid.

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

The puppies were found in the tote by a passerby about six hours after they were abandoned.

A necropsy performed at the University of Georgia found the puppies died from "pulmonary edema, pulmonary hemorrhage, and cardiac arrest."

Prosecutors had recommended a 20-year sentence

Prosecutors had asked Superior Court Judge Shannon to sentence Higdon to 20 years in prison, with the first decades to be served behind bars followed by probation while Higdon's defense attorney recommended their client receive 10 years, with one year to serve in confinement and the rest on probation.

After weighing factors in the case, Wallace sentenced Higdon to 10 years, with the first two years to be served in prison and the remainder on probation. The convicted felon is also forbidden from owning or having contact with animals during her probation.

“Given the nature of these charges and the pain and suffering this defendant caused these puppies, prison time is justified and sends a clear message that Cherokee County does not tolerate crimes against animals,” Treadaway said after the sentencing.

Higdon's co-defendant, who was not named in the statement, pleaded guilty to her role in the case and was sentenced to probation, prosecutors said.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.