These dogs were found abused in a Hilton Head home. How are they doing now?
Editor’s note: We caught up with the most interesting people — and animals — we wrote about in 2018. Learn what’s new with each this week.
The 14 dogs seized from a Sea Pines home on Hilton Head Island in April — where an additional 12 dogs were found dead — are now living in three separate shelters.
The case against their owner awaits prosecution, according to Franny Gerthoffer, executive director of the Hilton Head Humane Association.
The dogs were found “thin and starving for food, water, affection and some were sick,” at their 47 Lands End Road home, Gerthoffer said.
Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies were first alerted to the case after two Sea Pines security officers noticed a strong odor while doing a welfare check on the house. They then discovered an animal carcass in a trash bag near the back porch of the home.
The case against their owner, Gale Omi Walden, 72, is still pending, according to Beaufort County Circuit Court documents. Walden was charged with 10 counts of animal cruelty, seven counts of failure to bury/improperly burying dead animals and one count of abandonment of animals.
She was later charged with two additional counts of animal cruelty in Georgia when deputies visited her properties in Bacon County and found 10 dogs at one and 11 dogs and 10 cats at another.
Bacon County Sheriff’s Office deputies seized those animals, and Walden surrendered them to the Atlanta Humane Association.
Gerthoffer said the dogs found in Sea Pines are now healthy and an attempt has been made to get Walden to relinquish ownership of the animals, but she has refused. Therefore, they are not yet available for adoption.
This story was originally published December 27, 2018 at 5:00 AM.
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