MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two women were arrested today when authorities in West Tennessee discovered 128 live dogs, one dead dog and a live cat inside a U-Haul truck and a van during a traffic stop on Interstate 40, officials said.
A West Tennessee Drug Task Force agent found the animals during a stop on I-40 in Fayette County, about 40 miles east of Memphis, said David Lytal, special agent in charge of the task force.
"He could smell the odor," Lytal said.
Lytal says the women told authorities they were taking the animals from California to Virginia, but they did not say why. The driver, Bonnie Sherman, 55, and passenger Pamela King-McCracken, 59, were booked in Fayette County jail on aggravated animal cruelty charges.
They were scheduled for a court hearing and had not yet secured lawyers, a jail official said.
The agent found dog kennels stacked in back of the truck. Some had overturned, allowing some dogs to get loose inside the U-Haul, Lytal said.
Some animals also were found in a van that was being towed behind the truck, Lytal said. The animals had been in the vehicles since Saturday.
Officials said the animals were to be cared for by shelters in the Memphis area.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement