Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Wes Adams announced today that Jerry Tanner, 35, of Columbia, MD, was convicted by jury of animal cruelty. Circuit Court Judge Stacy W. McCormack sentenced Tanner to Probation Before Judgement and 5 years of probation, with the condition that Tanner cannot own a dog nor be in the care and custody of a dog for 3 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. “If you are unable to properly care for an animal, then you should not have an animal.”
On November 29, 2014, officers responded to a home in Odenton to check the conditions of a dog in the rear yard. Officers heard barking from inside the home, but found a red pit bull, named Gucci, emaciated, still chained, and deceased in her dog house. Police then executed a warrant to enter the home and found additional dogs, 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 revealed that one of the dogs found by police, Gucci, died at 28 lbs, which was only 50% of her healthy body weight. A second dog, Zulu, was also underweight. Zulu has been placed in a new home.
