"They are all off the property and are now getting cared for," said Lauderdale County Assistant District Attorney Angie Hamilton.
She said the animals were removed after their owners — Laura Fitterman Sherwood (aka Laura Sherwood), 38, and her husband, Patrick Joseph Sherwood, 44, 2201 Lauderdale 200 — were arrested Thursday on charges of animal cruelty.
Deputies said the Sherwoods are each charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and 15 counts of cruelty to animals.
"These animals were living in deplorable conditions," said Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly. "We are fortunate to have the resources we have when we find something like this, to be able to come together and secure the safety of the animals.
"It's quite a feat to deal with as many animals as we have in this situation."
Authorities said Patrick Sherwood is a registered sex offender from Tennessee and is also charged with failure to register as a sex offender.
Lauderdale County sheriff's investigator Brad Bolton said Laura Sherwood was charged with first-degree theft of property and first-degree receiving stolen property. She is accused of selling timber on the property she and her husband were living on without the property owner's permission.
Lauderdale County Animal Control Officer Dewayne Oliver said officials discovered some dead animals and others that are in poor physical condition.
Deputies said there are 25 horses and donkeys, 50 hamsters, two llamas, nine dogs, four cats, three birds and 161 rabbits.
"And as bad as it was outside the house, inside was just as bad," Oliver said. "It was nasty. I don't know how they were living in there."
Terri Whalen, president of Shoals Pets Are Worth Saving (PAWS), said the horses "were in the worst condition."
Six dogs, three of them puppies, were taken to the Florence-Lauderdale Animal Shelter, she said.
PAWS works closely with the animal shelter in emergencies, and in adopting and rescuing animals.
The biggest problem animal control faces is what to do with the rabbits.
"The shelter is not set up for rabbit care, and there are few resources for rabbits in the community," she said.
Hamilton said officers found the carcasses of two dead horses, and another horse was in such bad shape it had to be euthanized.
"The veterinarian we had inspect the horses said it was the worst case (of neglect) she has ever seen," Hamilton said.
Court officials said the Sherwoods have refused to sign over custody of the animals to the county.
The Sherwoods are being held in the Lauderdale County Detention Center on bail of $16,000 each.
(Times Daily - Jan 31, 2015)
MORE INFO:
Apparently Laura Sherwood aka Laura Fitterman has a very bad habit of buying/selling/breeding animals for profit (Craigslist flipper). She has been doing this for so long that there is even a webpage titled "Stop Laura Fitterman" which chronicles her abuse and neglect of animals. She may have fallen off their radar after choosing to marry a sex offender and changing her last name.
LAURA FITTERMAN'S Trail of Tears stretches from Florida to Tennessee to Alabama. In October 2004, the AKC's disciplinary committee suspended all of FITTERMAN'S AKC privileges for a period of 10 years and fined her $2000 after she pled guilty to animal cruelty charges while living in Callahan, FL.
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| http://stoplaurafitterman.blogspot.com/ Laura Fitterman in 2007 in Wayne County, TN court. |
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| http://stoplaurafitterman.blogspot.com/ |
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| http://stoplaurafitterman.blogspot.com/ |
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