Dog was 'starving for food, water': Newport animal shelter director charged with animal cruelty

Erica Breunlin | Knoxville

Show Caption Hide Caption Newport animal shelter director charged with animal cruelty The Cocke County Sheriff’s Office arrested Terry Starnes, shelter director of the Friends Animal Shelter in Newport, on Monday and charged him with cruelty to animals, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

The Cocke County Sheriff’s Office arrested Terry Starnes, shelter director of the Friends Animal Shelter in Newport, on Monday and charged him with cruelty to animals, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

Among the animals that Starnes, 44, is accused of endangering are Kylar, a young redbone coonhound who weighed 31 pounds when Steele Away Home Canine Foster and Rescuetook him in on Nov. 20.

Kylar should have weighed at least 70 pounds, according to Amy Huff, a volunteer with the Newport-based nonprofit rescue organization who first saw photos of him on Nov. 3.

Huff, former vice president of the foster-based rescue, said she had never before encountered a dog closing in on the brink of death before laying eyes on Kylar.

“I’ve never seen a dog that close to death and not dead,” she said, noting his feeble condition reduced her to tears.

The dog, who the rescue organization estimates is 2 or 3 years old, was “very emaciated” as well as “starving for food,” Huff said.

She added that he was also “starving for water” – a kind of suffering she had never seen and one that she nursed with a tablespoon of water at a time.

The Friends Animal Shelter on its website characterizes itself as “a no kill shelter that accepts and adopts out all types of dogs and cats regardless of age, breed, or size.”

The shelter does not euthanize animals as its website states, “we seek out all possible ways to put our animals into safe, loving homes.”

The shelter’s Facebook page was still active as of Monday night.

Stacking up evidence

Huff collaborated with staff from the Jefferson County Humane Society to build up evidence demonstrating Starnes’ animal abuse beginning in early November with photos, phone calls from area residents, and medical records of dogs.

“I wanted everything so I had my proof,” she said.

Huff said she contacted the Cocke County Legislative Body and faxed all the information she had to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Humane Society of the United States before filing an incident report with the sheriff’s office.

Huff filed a report on Nov. 30, stating that on Nov. 20, Julie Carter – director of the Jefferson County Humane Society – visited Friends Animal Shelter “to assess some dogs.”

Carter requested to take a redbone hound – Kylar – in “poor condition,” the report stated.

Steele Away Home had agreed to care for the dog and pay its vet bills, according to the report.

Kylar was deemed “extremely underweight” while being treated at Cedarwood Veterinary Hospital, the report states.

‘Underweight and in poor condition’

After Huff filed a complaint with the sheriff’s office, “pictures of a severely malnourished Red Blood Hound began appearing on Facebook,” the news release states.

The shelter was closed when Huff filed the report, but detective Josh Hall completed a walkthrough at the shelter the next morning, according to the release.

Hall and Sheriff Armando Fontes carried forward the investigation and determined that the dog at the center of it had been acquired by the shelter on Feb. 22, the release states.

He was adopted on March 10 before being returned to the shelter on March 21 by the person who had adopted him, according to the release.

The vetting sheet for the dog shows he received medical treatment several times from March through October, though when Hall and Fontes asked the shelter manager for the dog’s medical records, he responded that he had taken the dog to the vet but did not recall which vet, the release states.

The manager “could not produce any vet records,” the release states.

Officers returned to the shelter on Dec. 7 to serve subpoenas for records on Kylar, according to the release.

“Officers did find the conditions in some areas of the shelter to be in poor condition (and) in need of cleaning,” the release states.

Officers also identified dogs that were “underweight and in poor condition,” the release states.

Starnes’ arrest encouraged Huff, but her fight for justice on behalf of Kylar isn’t over yet.

“I’m glad that he’s been arrested, but I want him prosecuted,” she said. “I want him on the abuse registry so he can never be over animals again.”

Huff is urging anyone who’s adopted a sick animal from the Friends Animal Shelter to come forward and report it, noting “the more we can get, the better the case.”

From rescue to recovery

Kylar is currently regaining his health at a foster home in Newport, Huff said, as he wasn’t well enough to be adopted upon being rescued.

He’s jumped up to 54 pounds as of his last vet visit and is heartworm-negative, she said.

But he’s now battling skin issues because of the neglect he endured, according to Huff.

The dog’s hair is falling out due to stress and a lack of nutrients, and he’ll remain in his foster home until he’s fully healthy, Huff said.

“When he’s fully recovered, we’ll have him neutered and he will go to his forever home,” she said.

Even after a rough start to life for Kylar, Huff is optimistic that he has plenty of good dog days ahead of him.

“There’s too many people involved for him not to have (a wonderful life),” she said.

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