A woman who claimed to be running a shelter for rescued dogs was found with 37 bags of dead animals in her Clarksville, Tennessee, house.
A report in
USA Today says four puppies were initially found dead inside the house on June 5, and then authorities seized 40 living dogs from the premises. But shortly afterward, they made a gruesome discovery, bag after bag containing the remains of animals.
The paper says Nicole Hulbig, 29, has been charged with four counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and eight counts of animal cruelty.
Authorities told the local newspaper,
The Leaf-Chronicle, that the animals were so decomposed it was difficult to say how they died or even how many were there.
The paper says Hulbig is the owner of RRR Service Dogs. She had said she would take the dogs from kill shelters, train them, and pair them with disabled soldiers or children with disabilities.
Hulbig claims that because she is on bed rest for a high-risk pregnancy, she had to leave the care of the dogs to her 64-year-old mother. However the mother was not charged.
The Leaf-Chronicle said the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Division has now been contacted by people who say they gave their dogs to Hulbig for service training.
"A few dogs have been reunited by owners or rescuers who have proof of ownership, but the shelter has also received many emails with photos of animals who don’t match any of the dogs seized from the home," the paper says.
Hulbig, they said, claims the dogs died after a distemper outbreak about nine months ago, but the report also says many of the rescued dogs had no food or water.
USA Today quotes disabled soldier Chelsey Lanier, who is trying to find her German shepherd, Flint.
"For all I know, she just killed my dog, and he's one of the ones in a bag," she said. "My question is, where is he?"
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