TABOR CITY, N.C. (WECT) – One of the two owners of five dogs involved in a dog abuse case has been taken into custody in Tabor City.
According to Joey Prince, director of the Columbus County Animal Shelter, Casey Gore, 35, was arrested on previously issued charges of five counts of misdemeanor animal abandonment and five counts of misdemeanor failure to vaccinate dogs for rabies.RELATED: Tropical Storm Hermine leads to discovery of felony dog abuse in NC town
Authorities are still trying to locate her spouse, Morgan Blaire Gore, who is facing the same charges.
The case was discovered after a branch fell from a tree during Tropical Storm Hermine, damaging a dog pen. One of the dogs escaped, causing neighbors to call and complain about the stray.
The investigation led authorities to an abandoned home on Floyd Street Saturday at around 9:30 p.m. They found five dogs in pens with no food, only fetid water to drink and mounds of feces inside their pens.
According to Columbus County Animal Control, some of the dogs had been without food for so long they were eating the feces in the cage.
Prince said his department is working closely with Tabor City police in the investigation and felony charges against the pair are pending.
“There is just no excuse for this type of treatment of animals,” Prince explained. “Based on the condition of the dogs’ fur they had been underfed for some time. We intend to prosecute to the fullest extent possible that the law allows. Had these people come to us for help, we would have been glad to assist. However, to just abandon these animals and leave them there without food or clean water is just unconscionable.”
Prince said the dogs were kept in pens behind the house, some of which were barely big enough for the animals to turn around in. He believes more animals were kept in similar conditions at the property recently.
The five dogs now are being cared for and the investigation into the matter is ongoing.
