MAYFIELD - Authorities found three dead dogs and 34 live dogs in a house at 395 Progress Road today.
The tenant, who was evicted several days earlier, owns the dogs, and she continued to keep ownership of the surviving dogs this afternoon after bringing them to another location. Authorities filed no charges against the woman.
Town Dog Warden Jane Potts said the town cannot take the animals away from the woman because they still legally belong to her.
Article Photos
The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan
A make-shift pen containing a half-dozen small dogs is on the back deck at 395 Progress Road in Mayfield today. Authorities found three dead dogs and
34 live dogs at the property.
A Fulton County Sheriff's Department official said today the case is still under investigation.
"The owner will not relinquish [the dogs] to us," Potts said. "That's as far as we can go. Our hands are tied."
Authorities did not name the owner of the animals.
The owner of the property, Joe Adamkoski, said he went into the house March 20 responding to the tenant's request to take a water sample and noticed dog cages in the house.
Today, he said, he found two dead puppies on the first floor and a dead German shepherd in the basement that had maggots on it.
"I had no idea it would be this bad," he said. "This [involves a] dead dog in the cellar and half-eaten puppies. I thought that there was some provision to take away the animals."
Adamkoski said he estimates $2,000 to $3,000 in damages to the house.
More on this story will appear Wednesday in the print edition of The Leader-Herald.