Garrett faces more charges

Waynesboro authorities have filed 35 more animal cruelty charges against an Afton man, the most ever in a single city case.

Police raided Tory Allen Garrett’s Waynesboro farm last month, several days after authorities charged him with one count of animal cruelty for the death of an emaciated pony taken from his land. Officials said they found horse skeletons on the property.

Police seized 41 animals that day, including horses, ponies and donkeys, for suspected malnourishment and disease. One pony died in veterinary care — evidence enough, Garrett conceded at a March 27 hearing, to prevent his recovery of the remaining animals. Garrett, 53, had repeatedly denied wrongdoing before the hearing and said officials would not find sickly animals on his farm.

Judge William D. Heatwole ordered Garrett to give up all agricultural animals. Five other animals living on land that Garrett rents out in Afton may also have to be given up, despite their being owned by a renter, Waynesboro Animal Control Officer Dee Price said. Nelson County officials could not be reached for comment.

“What I did see ... there is a little bit of concern,” Price said of the Afton property. “They are a little bit underweight, but not quite as much as the ones we seized here in the city.”

Price described Garrett’s animal practices as “hoarding.” Cat and dog hoarding is much more common, Price said, and only a handful of landowners keep agricultural animals in Waynesboro.

“When you have this many animals ... it becomes a burden on the owner to provide the proper care,” Price said.

Officials tested the animals seized from Waynesboro according to the Henneke Body Condition Scoring System, which scores body weight between a “1,” meaning severely underweight, and “9,” indicating obesity. Twelve animals scored a body condition of “1,” and 24 scored “2” or “3,” said Debbie Caywood, director of the Augusta Regional Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“We’re still going by the initial seizure and the condition of these horses when they were originally found,” Price said. “They are improving, but it is going to take a long period of time to get them where they need to be, health-wise.”

The SPCA continues to care for the seized animals, many of which will be available for adoption.

Garrett is scheduled to appear April 20 and April 24 in Waynesboro court. Animal cruelty is a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable by a maximum 12-month jail sentence and $2,500 fine.