Owner Who Starved 2 Dogs, Killing One, Sentenced

ODENTON, MD — A Columbia man was sentenced Thursday in an animal case for letting one of his dogs starve to death at an Odenton house, while a second dog was found emaciated but alive, prosecutors said.

Jerry Tanner, 35, of Columbia, was convicted by jury of animal cruelty. Circuit Court Judge Stacy W. McCormack sentenced Tanner to probation before judgement and five years of probation, with the condition that Tanner cannot own a dog nor have the care and custody of a dog for three years.

"My office will prosecute those that harm animals, including animal cruelty or violence of any kind," said Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Wes Adams in a news release. "If you are unable to properly care for an animal, then you should not have an animal."

On Nov. 29, 2014, officers were called to an Odenton house to check the conditions of a dog in the rear yard. Officers heard barking from inside the home, but found an emaciated pit bull, named Gucci, still chained and dead in her dog house. Police then executed a search warrant and found additional dogs in the home, including a dog named Zulu, who was covered in urine and feces, dehydrated, emaciated, and in need of medical treatment

Tanner was convicted on two counts of animal cruelty for the failure to provide food to his two dogs.

A necropsy determined that Gucci weight 28 pounds when she died, which was only half of the normal body weight for a dog of that type when it is healthy. The second underweight dog, Zulu, survived and has been placed in a new home, officials said.