- The couple allegedly left their two dogs to starve to death in an outdoor pen for over a week.
- Police remind the public that there are resources available, such as animal control and food banks, for those struggling to care for their pets.
Two Danielsville residents recently were charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals for allegedly allowing two dogs to starve to death in an outdoors pen.
The 45-year-old woman and 42-year-old man were booked on Jan. 28.
The death of the dogs came to light, according to Madison County sheriff’s Investigator Chris Guest, in early January when the county’s code enforcement went into a rural neighborhood in a northern section of the county to talk with some people about a load of tires on their property. Guest said that’s when the county employees saw the bodies in the pen.
“The people admitted, ‘We haven’t fed those dogs in over a week. We haven’t had the money and somebody else was supposed to feed them,’” Guest said. “They told them, ‘You could have fed them scraps, done something.’ They explained the options, ‘You could have called animal control or gone to the food bank. There are different avenues than what you took and let the dogs starve to death.’”
Oconee Blotter:Deputy, suspect engage in struggle as other officers try to locate fight
The couple was issued a county citation, he said. “But a case like this is felony animal cruelty – causing pain and suffering. We didn’t’ feel like a citation was sufficient for what they did.”
Based on statements made by the suspects to county employees, along with pictures showing no food or water in the pen, Guest was able to obtain warrants from a judge.
“Dogs don’t ask for anything except for you to care for them,” the officer said.
Another case of animal cruelty was made in Oconee County in January when animal control charged a 39-year-old Bogart woman with misdemeanor cruelty to animals. In that case, animal control responded to a situation where a chihuahua was left in a metal crate and a Rottweiler was tied to a porch on a day when temperatures dropped to 19 degrees at night and never rose above 24 degrees, according to the sheriff’s report.
The dogs were removed from the house and the woman was arrested days later when she went to the animal control unit to retrieve the dogs.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
