Warren Co. woman running ‘puppy mill operation’ facing over five dozen animal cruelty counts

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A Warren County woman is facing dozens of animal cruelty charges after 63 dogs were found living in unsanitary conditions.

Donna Byard, 71, was charged with 63 counts of second-degree cruelty to animals after an animal control officer responded to a tip on Thursday about a “puppy mill operation” on Whitlock Road in Alvaton, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office said.

Feces clogged a drain and covered the floor in a barn where the dogs and puppies were kept; many of the dogs were also covered in feces, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. According to a police citation, Byard told officers the drain had been clogged for two weeks.

The dogs were removed from the property and taken to the Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society. They are not available for adoption at this time, the sheriff’s office said.

Byard is scheduled to appear in court on February 11.

(Photos courtesy of the Warren Co. Sheriff’s Office)

By the Associated Press and Ken Howlett, News Director