Debra Jane Catledge, 53, is charged with 15 counts of second-degree dog cruelty. Catledge was released from the Colbert County Jail on a $750 cash bond. She could face a year in jail on each misdemeanor count or a fine.
Earlier this week, animal control officers rescued a total of 122 Yorkies and Pomeranians from Catledge's home on Highway 72 in Barton. Authorities said the dogs were in wire cages out in the freezing weather. They also found 2 dead dogs.
On Thursday, the Colbert County Sheriff's office executed a search warrant at Catledge's home and found 2 more dead dogs, 6 live dogs, and illegal moonshine in a barn.
Sheriff Ronnie May said Catledge told investigators she took numerous other dogs out of state but will not say where.
"We're in the process of locating her residence out of state and another family residence out of state to see if the additional dogs that she had are at those locations" said May.
SEIZED DOGS UP FOR ADOPTION
Nichols said people have been calling and coming to the shelter trying to adopt the animals. On Friday morning, people were lined up outside the shelter before it opened. Some became so unruly — pushing and shoving — that a sheriff’s deputy was called in to calm them down.
About 15 dogs are being held at the shelter, Nichols said. Some will have to be sent to veterinarians.
“Despite the rumors, we are not keeping these dogs for ourselves or to give them to friends and family,” Nichols said. “These are not able to be sent to a rescue group.”
At the time the dogs were removed from the Barton residence, authorities said they were being held in cramped spaces and not properly cared for.
“Our main objective in taking the dogs was trying to get these dogs in a better and safer environment. No one needs 129 dogs,” Nichols said.
Dogs that couldn't be adopted out due to medical conditions or pregnancy will be taken to a rescue facility in West Virginia.
CATLEDGE'S ATTORNEY DEFENDS HER ACTIONS
Tuscumbia attorney Billy Underwood, who represents Catledge, said his client has been raising and selling dogs — as well as training horses — for 20 years and this is the first time authorities have gotten involved.
“She has never had a problem with the authorities,” Underwood said. “The woman raises these dogs to make a profit. She surely didn’t want little Jimmy or Sally and parents to come and purchase a Yorkie or Pomeranian and see dead dogs in the pens. She didn’t know there were any dead animals there in the kennel.
“This is the first problem like this she has ever had. There are two sides to this story.”
Attorney Billy Underwood defended Catledge on her multiple animal cruelty charges in Alabama. More recent clients of Underwood include: Donald Glenn Tipper, 65, an attorney in FLorence, Alabama, who was charged with FIRST-DEGREE RAPE AND SODOMY and Timothy Wade Warhurst, who was charged with murder for the death of his ex-girlfriend Wandy Ivey, 47, and for trying to bury her body in Jackson County. Authorities found Ivey's body in the back of Warhurst's pickup truck.
Second-degree dog/cat cruelty is a Misdemeanor. Catledge is out of jail on bail totaling $750.
(FOX54 - Jan 12, 2014)
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