On December 23, officers with the Carter County Sheriff’s Department responded to a home in the 700 block of Highway 91 in reference to some animals that were believed to have died and left in their dog houses.
Upon arrival, Deputy Samantha Maney said she met with Ricky Wayne Oliver, 58, and ask him if he owned any dogs.
According to a report, the officer asked where the dogs were located and he pointed to two dog houses that were at the front and back of the home.
Oliver allegedly told the officers that the dogs had been dead for a week or longer.
According to a report, the officer asked Oliver what had caused the dogs to die to which he replied, “I reckon they starved to death.”
At the front of the home, the officer said she found a dog lying inside in the early stages of decomposition. The dog was still attached to a chain, said a police report.
When she went to the back of the home, the officer said she found another dog that was dead and also attached to a chain.
Officer Maney said in the report it was apparent that the dogs were malnourished and had died of starvation.
Warrants were obtained and Oliver was charged with two counts of animal cruelty and was taken to jail.
Shannon Posada who is the director of the Carter County/Elizabethton Animal Shelter said she has never seen such an extreme case of neglect.
She added, “Some of them come in pretty thin. We take care of them. They have medical care before they are adopted back out. They are vet checked. We want to send a healthy animal out. But it’s very unfortunate for these animals to get to this point.”
Oliver was released from jail after posting a $2,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on February the 14th in General Sessions Court at 9 a.m.
(WATE - Dec 31, 2016)
