Colleton County woman faces 10 charges in dog-hoarding case

The Colleton County woman from whom 68 dogs were seized Monday faces 10 misdemeanor charges, including animal cruelty, and is scheduled to appear in Walterboro Magistrate Court on June 21, according to Reginald McNeil, director of the Colleton County Animal Shelter.

Felony charges haven’t been ruled out, McNeil said Wednesday, noting that the case remains under investigation by Colleton County Animal and Environmental Control, which is part of the Sheriff’s Office.

The dogs were seized from a roughly five-acre property at 19897 Augusta Highway in the Round O community, McNeil said, through a collaboration with the Hilton Head Humane Association’s Spay/Neuter Alliance & Clinic and Beaufort County Animal Services. It is not known whether the woman charged lives on the property, which has a mobile home on it.

With the exception of one puppy, all the animals were in cages in the woods, with three of the cages about 400 feet from the mobile home, McNeil said.

“It was kept hidden,” he said.

Colleton County Animal Services got an anonymous call April 18 that a welfare check on the property was needed, McNeil said, because the animals weren’t being cared for.

After meeting with the woman on the property May 13, Animal Services officials served her with a search warrant Monday. The animals were seized later that day.

The dogs rescued — most of them small breeds, along with six cats — are being cared for by the Hilton Head Humane clinic in Ridgeland. The animals will be moved to the association’s shelter on the island once those examinations are complete.

Adoptions cannot be made now because the woman charged in the case is attempting to get the animals back, Hilton Head Humane executive director Franny Gerthoffer said.

Donations, however, are being accepted.

Most needed is dry food for small dogs, preferably the Pedigree brand, Laura Tipton, an adoption facilitator, said Wednesday. Towels, empty spray bottles and cleaning supplies are also being accepted.

Donations can be made by mail or in person at 10 Humane Way on Hilton Head.

Donations can also be made online at www.hhhumane.org.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Colleton County woman faces 10 charges in dog-hoarding case."