Previous story: On January 11, the Henry County Sheriff's Department said they faced a heart wrenching decision. Should they leave dozens of dogs in what they called unbearable living conditions at the home of Cheryl Kidd or take them. They chose to rescue them.
Kenneth Anderson works with the animals daily at the animal shelter and said they have become more friendly. "I cant believe the situation they were in before. It'll be good for them to have a good home," he said.
Today, six months later the price to care for the animals has reached more than $72,000. The sheriff's department is asking Kidd to pay $23,936 about a third of the total cost.
Sergeant Rick Ford has been crunching the numbers to finance the animals and said it has tallied up quite a bit. "It's a lot of dogs for a lot of days. "We've had them over 6 months, so a third of that seems like a pretty good bargain to me," he said.
Officers said the 42 animals rescued from Kidd's home were living in pens with no food, water and among other dead dogs. Officers said Kidd was already arrested for a similar offense back in 2011.
Neighbors of Kidd said there were so many dogs at her home months later some of them are still running loose.
"There were several dogs running around the neighborhood and there was five in two weeks that we saw dead, just run over on the side of the road," said neighbor, Elvis Lee.
Each dog costs about $13 a day to care for according to officers. Sergeant Ford said some funds are allocated for the shelter but said ultimately the sheriff's department will be at a financial loss.
"We still have the light bill, water bill, keeping the pens clean and that takes a whole lot of water," he said.
Ford said the silver-lining was that, despite the financial burden, the animals are in a better place and hopes after Kidd's trial she will not be allowed to harm any other animals.
"She will be representing herself so that's kind of a drawback for her but good for us," he said.
(WBBJ - July 17, 2013)
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