Couple who neglected horses, dogs and 30 cats must pay shelter $10,000, NC judge says
More than two dozen neglected animals were taken from a residence in North Carolina last year, according to the county animal shelter.
Now their former owners must pay the shelter more than $10,000.
John and Ruth Ann Taylor pleaded guilty to misdemeanor animal cruelty charges on Feb. 28, Mitchell County Animal Rescue said in a news release Monday. Judge Ted McIntyre suspended their 45-day prison sentence and ordered them to pay the shelter $10,025 in restitution over the next five years instead.
The couple is also prohibited from owning any new animals.
“Judge McIntyre made it clear in his statements that animal cruelty is a serious offense,” the release states.
According to the shelter, law enforcement removed four horses, two dachshunds and 30 cats from the couple’s Bakersville residence in western North Carolina in October.
Executive Director Amber Dale Lowery told McClatchy News the shelter received two calls in the same day about the animals. The rescue group and the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office were working to remove them by the next morning.
“We are fortunate to have law enforcement agents in our county who love and respect animals,” she said. “We believe the couple were overwhelmed with their animals.”
Lowery told McClatchy that Mitchell County Animal Rescue has a pet food bank designed to help owners who “are struggling to meet the dietary needs of their animals.”
But the Taylors never reached out to them for help, she said.
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After their rescue, the shelter said two of the horses were sent to Hope For Horses — an equine rescue and rehabilitation organization in western North Carolina.
The remaining two, Moonlight and Black Beauty, are in foster homes waiting adoption.
Lowery said adoption applications are available on the shelter’s website.
The two dachshunds were also sent to a rescue where they received “much needed dental and tumor removal surgeries,” according to the release.
Mitchel County Animal Rescue has since found adoptive families for almost all of the 30 cats, the release states.
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Couple who neglected horses, dogs and 30 cats must pay shelter $10,000, NC judge says."
