District Judge Angela Terry read each complaint filed by Moulton police Capt. Damon Morgan, who led the investigation in June. Each complaint Morgan filed accused Taylor of abusing or neglecting a particular animal or group of animals.
A trial date has been set for Dec. 15 at 8:30 a.m. Taylor’s lawyer, Tony Hughes, of Florence, asked for specific information about the animals listed in Morgan’s complaints. He said he wants to examine veterinary records to figure out what conditions and circumstances the dogs were in before coming to Taylor’s shelter.
Taylor, 82, turned herself in at the Lawrence County Jail on July 16. She was released on $17,000 bail with the condition she is “to possess no more than 10 animals.”
She attended the arraignment along with a handful of supporters. One of them, Rose Bauer, had her phone confiscated because Terry caught Bauer recording audio in the courtroom. Bauer deleted the recording in front in Terry.
Taylor began sheltering the county’s strays on her property on Lawrence 170 in 2013. The Lawrence County Commission terminated an $80,000 animal control contract with Taylor in June. The commission’s decision came after an animal abuse complaint was filed with the Moulton Police Department. The Police Department asked the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to help with the month-long investigation.
The ASPCA tracked the medical needs of the more than 300 animals found on Taylor’s property and transferred them to a temporary site at Hillsboro Gin and Feed on Alabama 20. All animals were either adopted or sent to other animal rescue agencies nationwide by early August.
(Decatur Daily - Sept 4, 2015)
(Decatur Daily - Sept 4, 2015)
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