Dog rescued during animal cruelty case in Cumberland County in need of a new home
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — A woman charged with animal cruelty has pleaded guilty and been sentenced, and the sheriff's office says one of the dogs that was in her care when the case began is searching for a new home.
On Thursday, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office announced that Amber Cheyann Bruce pleaded guilty to animal cruelty on April 24 and was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days of supervised probation.
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On January 17, 2024, deputies responded to a home on Breckenridge Drive because of a civil matter, the sheriff's office said, but ultimately they discovered multiple animals living in unsanitary and inhumane conditions.
In coordination with Cumberland County Animal Control, the sheriff's office conducted a welfare check and found multiple animals inside the home in various states of neglect, including a tan dog living in filth, a cat that was crated in feces, and an emaciated black husky mix named Zeus. According to the sheriff's office, Zeus was so malnourished and cold that he could not stand or access food or water.
During the course of the investigation, Bruce reportedly told deputies that she had found Zeus just two weeks before he was discovered in the home, but investigators found photos that showed the dog was well cared for that contradicted her claims, the sheriff's office said.
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Bruce voluntarily surrendered Zeus, who weighed only 17 pounds, the sheriff's office said. Suffering from dehydration, whipworms and injuries to both ears, shelter staff were concerned the dog would not survive the night. With the intervention of shelter staff, he began to recover over the next three months, gaining 'weight, strength, and his spirit,' the sheriff's office wrote.
Now, Zeus is a healthy and playful 40-pound dog who is ready to be adopted from the Cumberland County Animal Shelter. The sheriff's office asked anyone interested in giving Zeus a good home to contact the shelter.
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