Woman says person she hired to keep her dogs left them to starve

CANTON, Ga. — A Cherokee County woman is making serious accusations about the woman she says she hired to watch over her dogs while she went on a vacation.

Brittany Leonard told Channel 2′s Justin Carter that she paid the sitter $1,000, but her three Pomeranians were not fed or given water for most of the time she was gone.

The dog sitter says that’s a lie.

Channel 2 Action News was there when Cherokee County Animal Control officers searched the Canton home.

Leonard says that when she returned home from the Dominican Republic, she found that one of her dogs, three-month-old Bolo Ocho, had died and the others were fighting for their lives.

“I can only imagine what he went through. No food, no water,” she said. “Just waiting on someone to just walk in to help him.”

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Leonard said that Catherine Yates has been watching her dogs for the last two years, so she felt safe hiring her again.

“Every day from August 11th, the 12th, the 13th and so forth, she texted me as if she was in my house,” Leonard told Carter.

A neighbor then alerted Leonard to the fact that he had not seen anyone at her home.

“I never saw one person at all,” neighbor Rod Pires said. “So I thought, maybe she just left.”

Leonard says that she confronted Yates through text message.

“She sent me a picture and said, ‘Your puppy is not breathing,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean my puppy is not breathing?’” Leonard said. “She later texted me and said, that same day, ‘I’m gonna be honest with you. I did not take care of your dogs.’”

Carter read the text message exchange and said the texts read “I haven’t been up here to see the dogs. I do apologize with all my heart and will never be able to truly say I’m sorry enough.”

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Channel 2 Action News reached out to Yates by phone. She denied the allegations and denied ever having a dog-sitting business.

“That’s definitely a lie. I did provide food and water to her animals, only after a week after she contacted me,” Yates told Carter.

Yates says that Leonard did not reach out to her until a week after she had left for her trip. She also told Carter that she had COVID-19, which kept her from getting to the house sooner.

She shared a photo of the two surviving dogs in their crate with food but could not provide a date.

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Cherokee County Animal Control says they are investigating criminal activity or ordinance violations. They have had the dog’s body exhumed to perform a necropsy.

They have not commented on what charges would be brought if they find that criminal activity occurred.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Heard County sheriff officials rescue more than 200 dogs from deplorable conditions A woman who owns an animal shelter is charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and abuse after more than 200 dogs were rescued from her home.

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