| Kentucky woman charged with cruelty to animals | | Posted: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 10:00 pm
| From AP, staff reports
MAYFIELD, Ky. — A western Kentucky woman has been charged with cruelty to animals after police and an animal rights group raided her facility and found more than 100 dogs on the property.
Graves County Sheriff Dewayne Redmon says deputies arrested Shannon Lacewell of Wingo, Ky., Tuesday after getting a search warrant for her property. Redmon says investigators found the live dogs as well as “quite a few dead ones” at “Paws and Claws,” which billed itself as a rescue operation.
The Tennessean reports the dogs have been taken to Nashville and are being sheltered at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds.
The investigation grew out of undercover work by the Animal Rescue Corps, a Washington, D.C.-based group that did an undercover probe of Ms. Lacewell’s facility.
The group says they found dogs in filthy conditions, along with dog corpses and bones. Animal Rescue Corps is giving the dogs medical care and will attempt to place them with other shelters and rescue groups.
Redmon said the group brought its findings to the sheriff last week, resulting in the arrest. Jail records did not list an attorney for Ms. Lacewell.
Paws, Claws and More of Wingo had assisted in the past at the animal shelter in Union City.
A photo published in the Aug. 13, 2010, edition of The Messenger showed Ms. Lacewell checking on dogs at the local shelter after Paws, Claws and More had loaned its travel trailer to the shelter to house animals during excessive hot weather. Published in The Messenger 2.15.12 | | | | |
