Paul Joseph Day, 50, is facing several felony and misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, as well as a charge of resisting arrest without violence.
According to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to Day's home on N. Rock Cress Path at 6 p.m. Friday. When they arrived, an animal control officer said she had seen three dogs in the front yard who did not have proper shelter.
The dogs also were tethered inappropriately and did not have food or water, officials said. The animal control officer said the dogs were all "extremely emaciated."
Deputies said one dog, a cream-colored mixed-breed hound, was so underweight that the dog's ribs and spine were visible. The dog was dirty and was tethered with a heavy chain. The deputies also saw two emaciated pit bulls and a six-month-old dog that was showing the signs of emaciation.
Deputies said that as they walked through Day's yard, they noticed two turkeys in a cage that were without food and water, and a rabbit in a standalone cage that also did not have food or water. What food was in the rabbit's cage was caked in the food dish, as though it was sitting there for a long time, deputies said.
The deputies also said they saw four chickens that kept getting out of their cages, as well as a dead chicken that was next to the live ones.
Deputies said Day told them he had switched the dogs' food in the past month, which he thought had caused all of the dogs to lose between three and five pounds. Deputies said they told him they doubted that weight loss would cause the dogs to look the way they did, and Day said he understood and agreed the dogs looked terrible.
Deputies said Day also told them he had not de-wormed any of the dogs in the past four or five months and that he had not sought veterinary care for the dogs. However, he said he feeds his dogs three times a day.
The deputies went into Day's backyard to check on more animals, and they described the yard as "completely hazardous" due to debris and disassembled electronic equipment scattered around the yard, the report said. As a result, deputies said they contacted Code Enforcement.
It was at this point that Day started yelling and told deputies he didn't want anyone going in his backyard. Deputies said they told him he was hindering an investigation, and he reportedly said, "Arrest me for it, because you are not going back there."
Deputies then arrested Day and put him in the patrol vehicle.
Deputies found four more emaciated dogs in the backyard. The dogs were on short tethers, did not have food or water, and did not have adequate shelter, the report said. Deputies said they also found a large female pig and two baby pigs, also without food or water.
In all, deputies removed 20 animals from the home, all of which they said were in poor condition. Deputies said the dogs were in the worst condition of all the animals.
The animals were taken to the county animal shelter. Their current conditions are not known.
Day was taken to the Citrus County Detention Facility. His bond has been set at $27,000.
(Bay News 9 - Jan 12, 2015)
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