Concern for the welfare of his own dogs led a North Carolina man to seek help from the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, help that resulted in the bodies of 19 dogs being discovered and the arrest of Colby Jay White.
White, 23, of 145 Payne Road, McCaysville, was charged in an initial warrant with 16 felony counts of Aggravated Cruelty to Animals. Sheriff’s office Investigator Brad Mathis, who swore out the warrant, said three additional counts would be added, representing one count for each dog’s body.
White turned himself in at the Fannin County Jail Thursday, January 25, at 10:15 p.m., according to jail records.
Chief Magistrate Judge Brian Jones denied bond during a first appearance hearing shortly before 10 a.m. Friday, January 26.
Jones said he determined White was a flight risk, likely to commit another felony and a threat to the community.
Mathis said Corporal Matthew Peardon was sent to meet with a complainant late Sunday afternoon, January 21. The complainant reported he was told that White, whom he had led borrow six of his hog hunting dogs, was mistreating the animals.
Peardon and the complainant discovered the dead animals when they arrived at White’s residence. There were four live dogs still on the property, and the complainant took two of them, believing them to be his. However, Mathis said the complainant later determined only one of the live dogs belonged to him.
Sheriff’s investigators and deputies returned to the scene Monday, January 22, with a search warrant.
Mathis said of the 19 bodies that could be identified, 11 were sent for necropsies to determine their cause of death. The others were too badly decomposed.
He said all the dogs seemed to have been malnourished and starved to death except for one pit bull that had been shot in the head.
Officials from the Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office and Fannin County Animal Control assisted investigators at the scene.