SC animal rescue CEO arrested after 30 dead animals found in home
The CEO of a non-profit animal rescue organization has been arrested after law enforcement found 30 dead animals in her Columbia home in late May.
Twenty-eight dogs and two cats were found decomposing in cages and crates and appeared to have died from starvation and dehydration in the home of Caroline Dawn Pennington, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said.
Pennington is the CEO of a non-profit animal rescue called GROWL and also worked with the Kershaw County Humane Society.
The animals were found after sheriff’s deputies received a call about a “smell of death” coming from Pennington’s house. They performed a welfare check May 22, and “found a disturbing and extreme case of animal cruelty,” the release states.
The animals had likely been dead “for a significant amount of time,” and were found lying in their own waste, the sheriff’s office said.
Richland County Animal Control along with the sheriff’s department removed the animals.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott in a release called it one of the worst cases of animal cruelty he’s seen.
“This is someone who was entrusted by the community to care for these animals and find them homes. She betrayed that trust and she betrayed the trust of these innocent animals who relied on her,” Lott said in the news release.
Because GROWL is a registered 501(c)3, the sheriff’s department is asking anyone who has made a documented donation to GROWL to contact its office.
