Georgia: Michelle Turner Lynn, 28, and her husband accused of living among rotting pets

GEORGIA -- A woman accused of neglecting more than a dozen dogs to the point that they died and decayed in her Murrayville rental home was arrested Thursday and charged with cruelty to animals.

Michelle Turner Lynn, 28, made her first appearance Thursday before a Hall County Magistrate Court judge via teleconference from the Hall County Jail.

Warrants for her arrest had been outstanding since Sept. 11. She surrendered to authorities at the jail early Thursday morning.

 

Judge Elizabeth Reisman set bond for Lynn at $1,000 for each of the 23 counts of cruelty to animals.

Lynn’s husband, 35-year-old Robert Lee Lynn, was arrested Saturday on the same misdemeanor charges and posted the same amount of bond Monday.

Arrest warrants allege that on Sept. 5, the couple caused "the death and unjustifiable pain and suffering to 14 dogs and two cats by willful neglect and failure to provide food and medical attention" at their Elm Circle home, which they later vacated.

The couple also is accused of causing pain and suffering to six puppies and one dog that were not provided food and water between Sept. 5 and Sept. 8.

Authorities said they found a filthy home in disarray when they were called late last week to the
address by the property owner.

Dog carcasses were discovered throughout the house in various stages of decomposition. Some were wrapped in plastic, in Tupperware bowls, under blankets and burned in a fire pit, according to Hall County Solictor-General Stephanie Woodard.

Officials believe the couple lived in the house among the carcasses with young children.

Five surviving mixed-breed dogs were seized by Hall County Animal Control and brought to the Humane Society of Hall County.

The Humane Society’s president, Rick Aiken, said one of the dogs later had to be euthanized.

"They were not doing good when they were brought in," Aiken said.

The surviving dogs are suffering from ringworm and the intestinal parasite coccidia and are cannot be adopted immediately because of the diseases, which can be contagious to humans, Aiken said.

Michelle Lynn waived her right to a preliminary hearing Thursday. She has an Oct. 8 arraignment scheduled in Hall County State Court.

In Georgia, causing an animal to die by neglect is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.

Aggravated animal cruelty, in which a person "maliciously causes death or physical harm to an animal by rendering a part of the body useless or by seriously disfiguring an animal," is a felony.

(Gainesville Times - September 17, 2009)