South Carolina authorities said they have arrested the CEO of a local animal rescue non-profit after they found multiple dogs and cats dead inside her home.
Richland County deputies said Caroline Dawn Pennington, 47, was arrested after she turned herself in this month. She's charged with thirty counts of ill-treatment of animals.
Investigators said on May 22, they responded to a welfare check at her home in Columbia after a caller stated there was a "smell of death" emitting from her residence.
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Once deputies arrived, they found 28 dogs and two cats decomposing and located in cages and crates. They believe the animals have been deceased for a significant amount of time and died due to dehydration and starvation.
"They were lying in their own waste and it is believed that they died in the cages and had not been moved prior to being discovered," authorities said in a statement to FOX Television Stations.
"It’s appalling and it’s heartbreaking," Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said in a statement. "This is someone who was entrusted by the community to care for these animals and find them homes. She betrayed that trust and she betrayed the trust of these innocent animals who relied on her."
Lott called this one of the worst cases of animal cruelty he’s ever seen.
Pennington is the CEO and Director of a non-profit animal rescue named GROWL. Authorities said she was also employed by the Kershaw County Humane Society.
GROWL is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Investigators ask that anyone who has made documented donations to GROWL in the last 12 months contact the sheriff's office.
Pennington was booked at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.
JuliaLouis-DryFist on June 6th, 2022 at 07:42 UTC »
I visited a puppy mill as a child once with my stepsister and stepmother in the 90's. She was really wanting a dachshund as they are her favorite dog. None of us had any idea what we were in for.
We toured the facility and it was basically just an abandoned house with soooo many puppies just running amok. My sister and I were excited about the puppies and a bit weirded out because the house was disgusting with holes in the walls and random mattesses and just grime and dirt and shit everywhere. In another room, we heard a loud bang and puppies yelping. A huge wood plank that was leaning against a wall fell. I dont know if any of the dogs were hurt. The whole time, I noticed a look of concern on my stepmoms face. I think she just wanted to see the extent of it.
She thanked them and said she would make her decision later. And then we went home and she immediately called the police.
Doc_Almond on June 6th, 2022 at 05:17 UTC »
A few years back in my hometown we had a lady who also rescued animals. She then suddenly left town and the bank foreclosed on the building she bought. When the city went to go check out the building they found over a hundred bags filled with animal carcasses (dogs and cats) of all of the animals she “rescued.”
fbtcu1998 on June 6th, 2022 at 03:46 UTC »
I only made it past the headline, I really don't want to read anymore