Warner charged with

70 counts of animal cruelty
By Melanie Davis
Melanie@mountaintimes.com

A Todd woman has been charged with 70 counts of animal cruelty in connection to the 77 live and three dead dogs seized one week ago by officials.

Anna Mae Warner, 18, of 10430 N.C. 194 north, was served with a warrant on the animal cruelty charges Thursday evening by deputies with the Watauga County Sheriff's Office.

This is Warner's second arrest warrant in the joint investigation conducted by the Sheriff’s Office and Watauga County Animal Care and Control.

On March 13, three live dogs and one dead dog were seized. Warner was charged with four counts of animal cruelty in that incident. She is scheduled to appear in district court on April 22 in lieu of a $2,500 unsecured bond to face those charges.

The investigation continued and Warner's treatment of her dogs was monitored by Animal Care and Control, leading to the execution of a search warrant and seizure of the dogs last week.

Warner's first court appearance for the most recent charges is May 8. A Watauga magistrate set an unsecured bond of $5,000.

A statement from the Sheriff's Office alleges that the dogs were not being fed and watered properly, and were in need of medical attention.

Warner was allegedly breeding “toy” dogs for sale.

Of the animals seized, there were miniature schnauzer, Papillon, Maltese, Jack Russell, toy poodles, Yorkshire terriers, shih tzu, chihauhua, pug, Pomeranian, spitz, Pekingese, Boston terrier and cocker spaniel breeds.

At their Monday meeting, the county commissioners voted to approve renting a kennel to house all of the dogs together. The dogs that have been seized are considered evidence in a criminal case. Therefore, the animals must remain in the custody of the county officers until the case is disposed through the court system.

The exact location of the approved kennel will not be released for the protection of the dogs. According to authorities, the case has received a substantial amount of attention in the community and across the state.

The dogs are also considered valuable due to the market for “toy” breed dogs.