7 dogs seized in Asheville animal cruelty probe

NORTH CAROLINA -- Officers with the Asheville Police Department’s animal services unit seized seven malnourished dogs and found one dead at a mobile home in South Asheville as part of an animal cruelty investigation.

Neighbors said the animals appeared to have been abandoned by the owners, who had not been seen at the home at 59 Whispering Pines Drive, off Sweeten Creek Road, in several weeks.

Officers began their investigation Tuesday after receiving a report of “emaciated dogs running at large from the premises,” police Sgt. Dave Romick said.

When officers went to the home Tuesday, they found some dogs outside and could hear several more dogs inside the home. Police obtained a search warrant and entered the home Wednesday.

“Upon arrival (Tuesday) officers were able to capture and impound two dogs in poor condition and post an urgent notice at the residence,” Romick said.

“When all efforts to contact the resident failed and believing there were additional animals inside that may require immediate attention, an inspection warrant was obtained and the mobile home was entered. Five living dogs and one deceased dog were removed from the residence by animal services officers. All of the animals appeared malnourished and were suffering from dermatitis.”

Of the two animals seized Tuesday, one was “a small dog with a long coat that was missing most of its hair, infested with fleas and a body score of 1/10,” animal control officer Zachary McTaggart wrote in his search warrant application.

The 10-step scale measures “the degree of body fat that an animal has remaining,” animal services supervisor Brenda Sears said, noting a 1 represents the least amount of body fat.

McTaggart also seized a “female black Lab type” dog in that initial visit.

Sears said the animals seized were all mixed-breed dogs.

The Citizen-Times is not naming the owner because he has not been charged. No one was at the home Thursday, and a phone number listed for the man living there was no longer in service.

Neighbor Pat Felkell said the man and his three teenage sons had lived in the mobile home for some time, but she hadn’t seen them recently.

“I haven’t seen them in a couple of weeks,” Felkell said. “I knew they had dogs, but I didn’t know they had left them — not until I saw all that down there. People were going in and out of there in lab coats. It shocked me when I saw them down there. I don’t understand why he left them.”

The seven impounded dogs were under treatment at the Buncombe County Animal Shelter, Romick said. The investigation is continuing.

(Citizen Times - Oct. 24, 2013)