Elizabeth Jean Windom, 56, of 1829 Oak Grove Road, is facing a total of 28 counts of cruelty to animals. On Monday she was placed in Franklin County Jail on $15,000 bond.
Last Friday, Franklin County Animal Control received a report of animal abuse at Windom’s residence. Animal Control staff and deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office then responded to Windom’s house to find dozens of dogs starving outside.
In addition to retrieving severely malnourished animals, the officers said they found more than 20 dead dogs and remains of animals that investigators are still working to identify.
Franklin County Sheriff Tim Fuller said one of Windom’s children, their spouse and their six kids were also living in the home on Oak Grove Road. According to the sheriff, the safety of the children and whether the home is acceptable to live in is still being determined.
As a result of this animal rescue and recovery, Franklin County Animal Control staff has taken in 32 dogs and eight cats, causing a space shortage at the facility.
And dogs and cats weren’t the only animals rescued from the property. According to Franklin County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Brent Perry, Windom also had five chickens, a duck, a horse and a mule on the property.
“Franklin County’s Agriculture Extension Office has helped us find foster homes for the farm animals,” Perry said. “All the dogs and cats were taken to the shelter, so this has driven up our population tremendously.”
Perry, who oversees Franklin County Animal Control, stated he was aware Windom was trying to house and feed a large quantity of animals at her house, and in the beginning all the animals were being adequately cared for.
“We made visits to the house and all were in pretty good shape,” he said. “Each of the dogs had houses, and there was enough food and water.”
However, Perry mentioned Animal Control staff recently received complaints about Windom’s animals “running at large.”
“When we went out there Friday, we found that the animals’ health had declined, and there wasn’t food or water for the animals,” he said. “We then made arrangements to feed the animals until we picked them up Monday.”
Being such a difficult situation to encounter, Perry commended Animal Control officer Jimmy Riddle, Sheriff’s Inv. George Dyer and the entire Animal Control staff for all they’ve done in recovering the animals.
Because some of the dogs are extremely underweight, it’ll likely take months to get these animals’ health back up to par, authorities said.
“It’s going to take a lot of work for us to get these animals where we can get them adopted out,” Perry said.
With space being tight, Franklin County Animal Control has been fortunate to receive some assistance from nearby shelters.
“We’ve taken a few of our dogs to Clarksville and Chattanooga,” Perry said.
Perry said the dogs are ones that were previously at the shelter. He added that none of the animals taken from Windom’s residence can be adopted out until after the court proceedings.
Windom is scheduled to appear in Franklin County General Sessions Court on Oct. 7 at 8 a.m.
(Herald Chronicle - August 16, 2013)
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