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Mill Creek woman charged with animal cruelty

ELKINS — A Randolph County woman is facing nearly 50 charges after allegedly being found with dogs, cats and birds in unsanitary conditions.

Deborah Kay Jones, 57, of Mill Creek, is charged with 44 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals. She is free on a $8,670 personal recognizance and $300 cash-only bond, set by Randolph County Magistrate Ben Shepler.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Randolph County Magistrate Court, on Wednesday Randolph County Sheriff’s Office Senior Deputy M.P. Dyer traveled to a Valley Bend residence with Charles Ramsey, Randolph County Humane Officer, to check on the welfare on some animals he had received information on.

Once on scene, Dyer and Ramsey observed several great dane dogs in outside kennels with “no protection from the sun or any elements over top of the kennels,” police said.

Dyer noted in the report that the kennels were dirty and another dog was living inside a building in a “small swimming pool with a fence around it,” the complaint states.

The bottom of the swimming pool was “covered in feces” with no clean spot for the dog to lay down. Also in the outbuilding, officers found three small cages with four cats inside. The cages were “small and cramped and feces were piled up in the cages leaving little room for the cats to move around,” court documents indicate.

Inside the building there were also birds in cages that had not appeared to be cleaned in “some time.” Officers also located a cage hanging above the ground with three small kittens in it. The bottom of the cage was wire with no places for the kittens to lay down, police said.

Inside the residence, officers found two great danes with several puppies, police said. Also inside the residence were birds in cages that appeared dirty and “did not appear to have been cleaned recently.”

Twenty adult dogs, six puppies, seven cats and 11 birds were seized from the residence, according to the complaint.

If convicted, Jones could be sentenced to not more than six months in jail, fined not less than $300 nor more than $2,000, or both, on each of the 44 counts.

In a press release from Randolph County Sheriff Mark Brady, he notes the investigation is ongoing and the Randolph County Humane Society provided “invaluable assistance” with the removal, transportation and housing of the animals.

Anyone with information regarding this alleged incident is asked to contact the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office by calling 304-636-2111.

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