Three dogs found dead on chains - Shelby, NC

Thursday, Mar 5, 2009

Morris White was clearing his back yard when he came across a sight that stopped him in his tracks - three dead pit bulls.

"The chains were around their necks and tied around the trees," said White, of Mitchell Street.

"It tore me all to pieces .... You could see where they left them water but no food to feed them."

He immediately called the Cleveland County Humane Society to report what he found.

"As soon as we arrived we smelled the stench," said society President Marguerite Mebane. "We walked back in the woods and discovered the bodies of the dogs."

Cleveland County Animal Control was contacted and an investigation began, said Sam Lockridge, coordinator of health services with the Cleveland County Health Department.

Sylvia Short, 26, of the 1100 block of Mitchell Street, was arrested Thursday on three charges of animal cruelty, according to an arrest report from the Shelby Police Department.

According to the warrant, Short was charged with willfully and intentionally depriving necessary sustenance to an animal resulting in the death of pit bulls.

But Short said she has never owned any pit bulls and has not lived at the home on Mitchell Street in months.

"I don't want to be responsible for something I didn't do," Short said. "They (animal control) called me and told me there were three dead animals and a week later I am charged with it."

Mebane said when she arrived at the property she was devastated.

"It was extremely upsetting to see these (dead) dogs curled up, no shelter and against these trees and left to starve to death," she said. "I cried for days."

Roy Wilson, who owns a rental property nearby, also discovered the dogs and could not identify the breed because the carcasses were decayed.

"It was mind-boggling," he said. "The mind would not accept the cruelty."

There were 701 cases of alleged cruelty to animals reported to Animal Control last year, according to Lockridge.

Lockridge and Mebane encourage anyone who observes animal cruelty to contact the Cleveland County Animal Control.

Mebane said if people do report an incident, make sure there is an exact address.

"Call when you first notice a problem," she said. "Begin that process before it is too late."

References

• « NC State Animal Cruelty Map
  « More cases in Cleveland County, NC

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