North Carolina: Former Animal Shelter director Marsha Williams among 3 indicted for animal cruelty

2017 Update: Former director of the Davidson County Animal Shelter Marsha Williams pleads guilty to animal cruelty after leaving a dog with a broken back and maggots in its wounds to suffer for three days before finally being euthanized


NORTH CAROLINA -- Arrest warrants were issued Wednesday for three former employees of the Davidson County Animal Shelter following indictments from a grand jury, all stemming from a multi-pronged investigation that also involves the Guilford County shelter.
 
A Davidson County grand jury issued the felony animal cruelty indictments Tuesday for Marsha Williams, the former executive director of both shelters, as well as her daughter Dana Williams-King and Marissa Studivent. A search warrant names both Williams-King and Studivent as directors of the Davidson shelter.

  

  

Williams also faces two felony counts of obstructing the investigation and one felony count of possessing a controlled substance at the Davidson shelter.

Duane Bryant, a High Point attorney representing Williams, declined to comment.

All three women live in Guilford County and worked at the animal shelter here as well as Davidson County.

Both facilities were previously managed by the United Animal Coalition, a Greensboro-based nonprofit that had its license revoked by the N.C. Department of Agriculture in August. The coalition had run the Guilford shelter since 1998 and took control of the Davidson facility in December.

The indictments stem from claims that the three women neglected to provide humane treatment to a dog admitted to the Davidson shelter in May with a broken back. The dog, a female, received a medical evaluation that noted paralysis from the shoulders down. She languished in her kennel for three days with no veterinary care before being euthanized.

Staff reports from that time period noted, among other things, that the kennel had not been cleaned and that maggots appeared on the dog’s rear end.

The incident sparked an investigation by the state Department of Agriculture, which noted abnormally high numbers of animals found dead in their kennels during an eight-month period as well as data that suggested a disease outbreak in the facility.

Animal welfare laws dictate that shelter administrators contact a veterinarian for help in containing the outbreak, but no one in Davidson County did so, state officials said last month.

Marsha Williams has operated the Guilford County Animal Shelter
since 2001. She received a salary of $92,107 in
2013, according to tax documents.

In June, the Lexington Police Department in conjunction with the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office launched a separate investigation into the facility.

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency also launched a probe into drug violations at the shelter. The DEA oversees and regulates shelters and veterinary clinics since both handle drugs that are classified as controlled substances.

Despite the indictments, those investigations remain ongoing, said Ina Stanton, a Davidson County assistant district attorney. Stanton declined to say whether additional charges would be filed.

Davidson County Commissioner Larry Potts, who in December voted against allowing the United Animal Coalition to run the shelter, said Wednesday he took no enjoyment from the grand jury’s decision.

“Whether I voted for them to run the shelter or not,” Potts said, “I find no solace and no joy in someone else’s difficulties.”

Arrest warrants for the three women had not been served as of late Wednesday afternoon, according to Col. Randy Powers of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office.

Marissa Studivent

“We would most likely serve them because we have countywide jurisdiction,” he said. “We understand that the grand jury has met, but we do not have any printed copies in our hand at this time.”

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a separate investigation of the Guilford shelter. Detectives are working through a pile of computers and other evidence seized from the shelter last month, and there’s currently no timeline when that investigation might conclude.

Marsha Williams, the former executive director of the Guilford and Davidson animals shelters, has been charged with animal abuse, obstruction and possession of a controlled substance, all felonies. Her attorney declined to comment Wednesday.
(Greensboro.com - Sept 9, 2015)