Animals left behind after tenants move out Myrtle Beach, SC (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jan 15, 2010 County: Horry
Disposition: Alleged Case Images: 4 files available
Abuser names unreleased
John Pennington had quite a clean-up to do Saturday. He manages a rental property that the previous tenants left in a mess.
Pennington said the problem was not a typical bad housekeeping situation. He had to clear out everything in the single-level duplex apartment, including carpeting and tile. Feces from dogs littered the floor, and Pennington believes the mess was created by five dogs that were left in the home virtually abandoned by the people who were supposed to be living there. He said seven cats had also been locked in a multi-compartment cage.
"I took everything out," Pennington said. "It was full of trash."
Pennington said he was attempting to evict the tenants, but they moved out and took their animals with them before they got the notice. So Pennington went to the apartment Saturday to clean up. He thinks the tenants had left their animals in there for weeks or months while they lived elsewhere.
Pennington and his friend Emily Hoskins said they called Horry County Police and Animal Control to complain about the conditions of the apartment. However, the situation was complicated because the animals were not loose in the neighborhood. The tenants also apparently stopped occasionally at the apartment to leave food for the animals. So although the conditions inside were unpleasant, Pennington and Hoskins said officers did not feel the health of the animals was jeopardized enough to take them.
However, Pennington said Horry County Police are now investigating after he found a dead dog in a cardboard box in the home Saturday.
"What upset me the most was the little dog," Hoskins said. "I mean it could have been avoided if they had done something months ago."
Walt Thomas who lives beside the duplex also had concerns about its condition. He said he thought the conditions inside were bad, but he never imagined how bad.
"It was just... That's just ridiculous. That's ridiculous," Thomas said as his eyes teared up. He had helped Pennington clean out the apartment earlier in the day.
While criminal charges have not been filed against the previous tenants, Pennington hopes that will happen.
"That man, something needs to be done about it," Pennington said as he referenced his struggle to get the tenants out of his property. "Not only to this guy that did this but there needs to be something else in the law to where a man can protect his property." References |