Animal activist charged with cruelty
Suffolk, VA (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, May 12, 2011
County: Suffolk City

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Elizabeth Ann Epps

A 79-year-old woman was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after 13 cats were seized from her home last month.

Police arrested Elizabeth Ann Epps, of the 400 block of Kings Fork Road, on Friday after animal control officers went to her home May 12 and found animals in dirty cages without water, said spokeswoman Debbie George on Monday.

Epps is a member of the
"She won't stop taking in animals until her heart stops beating," he added.

Epps was charged with five counts of failure to provide adequate care; five counts of animal cruelty; one count of keeping a dog over six months without a city license and one count of keeping a dog four months without a rabies vaccination, George said.

"She has a long history of caring for animals, so I don't know what happened," Hurley said.

"We're very concerned about the nature of the charges," she said. "We're monitoring it, and we're going to make sure we make the decisions that are appropriate. The main thing for us is to help companion animals in our community."

Anyone interested in adopting an animal can call the
This board member was one of the founders and a board member of the original Suffolk SPCA in the early 1990's. She became a member of Suffolk Humane when that defunct organization donated three acres of land on Route 460 to Suffolk Humane in 2008. We are respectful of this member's history of animal care in our city, but we are concerned about the serious nature of these charges.

We'd like to assure the public that this member does not foster for our organization or have direct supervision of any of the animals that we assist. We feel certain that this case will be handled appropriately through the court system. We will also monitor internally and provide all information to the Board of Suffolk Humane so that they can determine the next steps with regards to any action within our organization."

References

• « VA State Animal Cruelty Map
  « More cases in Suffolk City County, VA

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