FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – Forsyth County deputies have arrested six individuals in reference to an investigation into alleged animal cruelty involving the deaths of a number of puppies.
Officials say 28-year-old Emily Wilgus, 22-year-old Sheyanne Edwards, 28-year-old Lashia Samples, 24-year-old Hannah Glenn, 34-year-old Jonathan Jagneaux, and 18-year-old Kiara Wallis are in custody going through expenses of cruelty to animals. All six individuals lived in a home on the 5600 block of Archer Avenue.
Deputies say Forsyth County Animal Services has been conscious of the home since April 2023 when a puppy that had been bought from the home died from parvovirus, a extremely contagious illness that’s often deadly in unvaccinated puppies. Animal Services ordered the residents to not undertake another animals till all of the animals within the home had been handled for the virus, however officers say they ignored the directions.
In December, deputies mentioned two different puppies needed to be euthanized because of the virus. A month later, two extra puppies grew to become sick – considered one of which needed to be euthanized because of the severity of its sickness.
On Jan. 11, Animal Services staff visited the home and located a useless canine on the entrance porch that was believed to have died from the illness and seized one other canine contained in the home that was sick. They requested Forsyth County deputies to begin an investigation.
The subsequent day, deputies obtained a search warrant for the home and located the building in “excessive filth and disarray,” officers mentioned.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office describes the state of affairs as being full of trash, feces and urine. Dogs had been reportedly paired collectively in cages and with out water. In whole, 12 dogs and two bearded dragons had been seized through the search and despatched to the Forsyth County Pet Resource Center for remedy.
After the search and seizure, deputies discovered that Wilgus and Edwards adopted two puppies over the weekend by Facebook.
“These people and the opposite residents within the home had been warned a number of instances of the hazards of parvovirus. However, they proceed to convey animals into the home. Knowing parvovirus to be dangerously contagious, the residents of the family maliciously and with intent, failed to offer sanitary circumstances and medical remedy to the animals residing inside the residence to the extent it resulted within the demise of 5 animals,” a spokesperson for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a press release.
All six residents are in custody on the Forsyth County Jail.
The two puppies allegedly adopted over the weekend and one other cat had been taken by Animal Control.
