Saturday, June 23, 2012

Fulton County woman arrested for animal cruelty

Tirzah Henry

NEW YORK -- From the outside you can see dog cages cast to the side and the windows of a home on Progress Road open with fans running. Inside, landlord Joseph Adamkoski revealed what days of cleaning had accomplished.

Floors were torn up, but there still lingered an unpleasant odor, and it's easy to see the sign of what was there only days before.


"If we can't get the smell out, then some flooring will have to be taken up if it's completely saturated to the point where the wood is swelled up with the urine," said Adamkoski.

On June 19, the Fulton County Sheriff's Department along with Adamkoski entered the home being rented by Tirzah Henry. Adamkoski said 34 living dogs were inside with three dead [as well as cats and rabbits].

"There was the dead dog in the cellar, half eaten puppy," said Adamkoski. "They were very thin. You could see all the ribcages and stuff."


Authorities said Henry was breeding and selling them. Adamkoski said Henry was evicted for failing to pay four months of rent. He said when he rented the home to Henry back in 2011, they agreed she could have four white poodles there. When the condition inside the home was discovered, Henry was contacted.

"Ms. Henry at that time didn't want to surrender those animals to us, and she has since put them in care of one of her friends, and they all still appear to be in good shape," said Fulton County Sheriff Thomas Lorey.

No charges were filed then, but that changed on Friday when the Sheriff said Henry created a disturbance trying to get back on the property. She was charged with disorderly conduct as well as torturing and injuring animals and the unlawful disposal of dead animals.


"She essentially abandoned those animals in there and wasn't caring for them properly," said Lorey.

The sheriff said it remains to be seen if Henry will be able to take custody of those animals again. For now he said Henry is being held in county jail on $2,000 bail.

(Fox23 - June 22, 2012)