Target: Chris Arnt, District Attorney, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, Georgia
Goal: Seek the maximum felony penalties—prison time, fines, and lifetime animal-ownership ban—against those reportedly hoarding and mutilating hundreds of animals.
Dozens of agencies converged on a home where more than 250 animals were reportedly crammed into waste-filled cages. Officials say the scene was so severe it ranks among Georgia’s worst cruelty cases. One French bulldog, now named Miracle, could not bark. A veterinarian determined that her vocal cords had been surgically removed, apparently to silence her cries.
Investigators further allege that French Bulldogs, Pomeranians, and other dog breeds were malnourished, sick, and living in excrement. The couple accused of this cruelty now faces seven felony counts of animal cruelty, yet the immense suffering these animals seemingly endured demands the fullest prosecution allowed by law. Lenient consequences would signal to would-be puppy-mill profiteers that mutilation and neglect are minor risks of doing business.
Georgia statutes provide for strong felony sanctions when animals are willfully mutilated or deprived of basic care. Imposing serious prison terms, steep fines, and a permanent prohibition on animal ownership is essential to honor Miracle’s pain and deter similar atrocities. Justice must match the gravity of this allegedly brutal enterprise.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear District Attorney Arnt,
State inspectors and law-enforcement officers reportedly removed 256 animals from the residence of Nathaniel and Aimee Curington. Among the survivors is Miracle, a French bulldog whose vocal cords were apparently cut, leaving her forever silent. Many other animals were allegedly starving, infected, or trapped in their own waste—classic hallmarks of a clandestine puppy mill.
Georgia law classifies aggravated cruelty, including mutilation and prolonged neglect, as a felony. Anything less than vigorous prosecution and the harshest sentencing would diminish the seriousness of these alleged crimes and embolden future offenders.
We respectfully urge your office to pursue every provable felony count, seek consecutive sentences where the law allows, demand substantial restitution and fines, and request a lifetime ban on animal ownership for the defendants if they are convicted. Such decisive action will demonstrate that Georgia will not tolerate the silencing of dogs or the mass suffering of any animal.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Tudor
