Raymont  Jackson, 59, was arraigned August 20 on a charge of second-degree animal cruelty in San Juan County WA District Court. The Mayor of Friday Harbor entered a not guilty plea through his lawyer.  The charge is a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to 365 days in jail and/or a $5000 fine.

District Court Judge Carolyn Jewett set the pretrial hearing for September 26, 2025.

According to the probable cause statement: 

On August 9, 2025 a Friday Harbor woman told a San Juan County Deputy that her neighbor's dog Sasha came to her house and "appeared in distress visibly shaking." 

According to the woman, the collar was extremely tight and when she looked at the dog closer, she smelled a foul smell and observed a "blackish ooze around [the] collar."  According to her, the collar was so tight on Sasha that she could not get a finger between the collar and her fur. 

She took the shock collar off and observed that the skin was rubbed off and there was blood on the neck. She bathed the dog prior to the deputy's arrival, which was delayed due to a medical transport and other calls that were pending prior to his response. 

The deputy observed Sasha to be approximately 15 pounds and was a tan, possible terrier mix, and it appeared to be friendly and came up to him. 

In photos the woman took, the deputy saw a large black ring around the wound, which appeared to have possibly been burnt fur, as well as an open wound and open skin. The collar was outside, he smelled a pungent, rotting odor from approximately five feet away. It was a pronged shock collar with one prong missing. There was an obvious thick discharge on the collar and staining consistent with the discharge. 

After being unable to find an available veterinarian, the deputy took the dog to the Friday Harbor Animal Shelter. On August 11, 2025, the deputy received a report from a veterinarian who had checked the dog. 

According to the report, Sasha had a “single moist puncture wound with granulation around it and adherence of skin to underlaying tissues consistent with chronic inflammation, surrounded by approximately 4cm of inflamed tissue." During the examination, the Veterinarian also noted that Sasha's "nails [were] all very long, most curling sideways.” Medications were prescribed to Sasha for infection. 

The veterinarian  informed the deputy that the neck wound would have been painful for Sasha and the long nails could have caused discomfort. 

Two deputies met with Jackson later that day and asked what was going on with Sasha. Jackson stated that "she got loose."  Asked about the injury on her neck, Jackson replied “now that's something I don't know." He explained that the collar might have died, before asking the deputy about the injury. Shown an image of the wound, he quickly exclaimed "that has not been there!”

Jackson stated that he did not know where the wound came from, but added that "we did realize that she was stinking at one time. We thought she rolled into something, right? But that was only like a couple days ago.” He added that they were going to give Sasha a bath, but then she ran off.

Jackson stated that the smell could not have been coming from the collar "because the collar is loosely fitted.” Informed  that it could not have been loose, Jackson argued that it was always loose. Asked  how the prong became imbedded in Sasha's neck,  he stated that "the prong was not that way. She's a loose-fitting collar on her when we had her.” Shown  an image from the veterinarian that showed the clear puncture wound, Jackson reiterated that "she was smelling, but we figured she rolled into something." He again stated that he was going to give her a bath, but she left before he could. 

Asked about clipping Sasha's nails, Jackson he stated that he brought Sasha to the vet a month and a half prior to have them clip her nails. He didn't have a receipt for that, but the vet would have records. 

Jackson was issued a Notice of Seizure form for Sasha and a citation for animal cruelty in the second degree. The citation was issued with a court date of 08/19/2025 at 0830 hours. It was explained to Jackson that failure to appear may result in a warrant for his arrest.

When explaining the citation, the deputy informed Jackson that the vet said Sasha was in pain. Jackson replied "well I'd be in pain too if she ran out through that gate and got zapped over.” 

Jackson was elected Mayor of Friday Harbor in 2021. He ran for reelection in 2025, but lost in the August primary.