Man found guilty of animal cruelty

A conviction handed down by a Waynesboro judge could land animal abuser Tory A. Garrett in prison for as long as two years.

Judge Humes J. Franklin Jr. delivered his verdict after more than a week of review of the case, which included a daylong trial March 10.

Franklin convicted Garrett, 54, of Waynesboro, on two of 12 animal cruelty charges. Franklin found enough evidence to convict Garrett on the other 10 charges, but opted to take them under advisement under the condition he not own horses and that he pay back all veterinary costs accumulated in rehabilitating his emaciated herd.

“This was a difficult case from both sides,” Franklin wrote. “However, the court feels that Dr. Charlotte Robinson’s testimony was not only articulate, but clear and convincing beyond a reasonable doubt that these animals were not properly cared for.”

Garrett, reached by phone, declined comment Thursday.

Debbie Caywood, executive director of the Augusta Regional Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which helped transport animals taken from Garrett, approved of Franklin’s decision.

“We’re very excited about the fact that he’s never going to be able to own horses again,” Caywood said.

With a binder filled with evidence, and more than 100 hours working on the case, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney David Ledbetter argued at trial that Garrett deprived his dozens of horses and ponies of necessary veterinary care.

During the nine-hour trial, Robinson, a retired Department of Agriculture veterinarian and current volunteer at the Augusta Regional Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, provided a meticulous recounting of the condition of the horses and ponies seized from Garrett last year.

The animals desperately sought grass on which to graze, Robinson testified. She said many were in “imminent danger.”

Police raided Garrett’s farm in March 2009, and eventually seized 41 malnourished horses, ponies and two donkeys from his property off Lyndhurst Road. Officials said they also found horse skeletons on the property.

Waynesboro police launched their investigation into Garrett because of an ill pony named “Scarlett” that a horse buyer, Jamie Hemp, brought to a veterinarian after it stayed on Garrett’s property. “Scarlett” later died because of her poor body condition, authorities said.

That case led to 39 charges against Garrett. Some were later dropped.

A sentencing date has not been scheduled.