A Henderson County woman faces 15 counts of felony animal cruelty after deputies say they found seven dead canines at her home amid “deplorable” conditions.
On March 5, Detective Caleb Moore and Deputy Jacob Leahy with the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office investigated a report of three Saint Bernard dogs running loose in Horse Shoe, an unincorporated community south of Mills River. After finding the dogs, the officers called the owner, Stacy Rose, who came to bring the animals back to her house, according to a search warrant obtained by the Citizen Times.
While standing with the dogs, Moore noticed the dogs seemed to be “covered in fecal matter” and had a strong stench, he wrote in the warrant. Because of the animals’ condition, the officers decided to follow Rose back to her house.
Rose is listed on the Henderson County registry as owning over 10 canines, which allows for property inspections, according to a news release from the department. When they arrived, Moore smelled “a very strong foul odor” near the home. Rose walked the officers to where the dogs had escaped from a shed, which looked to have “one or two inches of dog excrement covering the floor,” Moore wrote.
Moore then noticed an uncovered dog that was decomposing and what he believed to be five black trash bags containing deceased dogs, some severely decomposed to the point of exposed bones and absent fur, the warrant said. The officers found seven dead animals in trash bags, according to the news release.
Rose then walked the detective to the house, which was in a similar state as the shed, with feces on the ground and no food or water inside the residence. Additional dogs were in the house, some with fur matted with the excrement. When the dogs came out of the front door, they “immediately started drinking water on the front porch,” Moore wrote in the warrant.
The owner told Moore that the water pipes had busted a few weeks ago and there was no running water in the home, according to Moore’s statement of facts. Rose said she brings the pets food and water daily, but she doesn’t live at the house.
The sheriff’s office requested a search warrant to seize all animals on the property based on “the inhumane conditions of the residence and the conditions of the animals,” Moore wrote. After it was obtained and executed, 15 canines were seized — 10 from inside the home and five from the backyard, the news release said.
Deputies charged Rose, 47, of Horse Shoe, with 15 counts of felony animal cruelty, three counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and seven counts of misdemeanor failure to bury a dead domesticated animal. A magistrate imposed a $126,500 secured bond, which Rose later paid and was released, records show.
At her first appearance March 7, Rose waived her right to a public defender, indicating that she’ll retain her own attorney. As of March 21, no attorney was on file with the clerk’s office as representing Rose. The Citizen Times reached out to a phone number listed for Rose, whose probable cause hearing is scheduled for April 15, according to online listings.
The sheriff’s office encourages the community to report any animal cruelty or neglect concerns to its office or use the “submit a tip” feature available on the sheriff’s mobile app.
Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober
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