A woman has been ordered to go to jail for animal cruelty after she nearly starved her dog to death.The woman, Tracey L. Howell, 39, entered a guilty plea before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to the charge of cruelty to animals. She was ordered to serve 48 hours of an 11-month, 29-day sentence to the Class A misdemeanor and must perform 40 hours public service work and make restitution.Her sentence comes after Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Walker went to her Rock Island home to answer a prowler call. During his look around the property he found the black male dog chained to an outbuilding.“The dog had no water and appeared to be malnourished,” Walker said.Walker said he instructed Howell, who was the owner of the dog, to get food and water for the animal.“The dog ingested it (the food and water) to the point of throwing it back up,” Walker said.The dog was handed over to Warren County Animal Control and was then taken to a veterinarian.“The dog was 25 percent under the expected weight,” Walker said.Walker said a subsequent investigation revealed the dog had wasted away during its relatively short time under Howell’s supervision.“The previous owner said the dog was healthy about a month before when he gave it to Ms. Howell,” Walker said.