North Georgia couple arrested after dead dog found under sheet in backyard, officials say
A North Georgia couple is facing multiple charges as part of an investigation into the death of a dog.
Officials say 33-year-old Andrew James Groncki and 23-year-old Megan Gibson of Rossville, Georgia, are charged with animal cruelty, the improper disposal of a dead animal, and failure to maintain responsibility for the control of rabies. Groncki is also charged with obstructing an animal control officer.
According to Walker County authorities, the investigation began on March 16 when county animal control officers visited a home on Carline Road. They had been asked to perform a welfare check on the family's dog after a Georgia Department of Family and Children's Services case manager reported not hearing the animal bark during her visits.
When the officers got to the home, Gibson told them that the dog "had died after refusing to eat, losing weight and exhibiting symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea," officials said. The woman said that Groncki, her fiancé, was going to handle the disposal of the dog's remains.
Speaking to Groncki at his workplace, the man told the officers that he hadn't sought medical assistance for the dog and that "someone he met on Facebook" was supposed to take care of its remains, officials said.
The officers returned to the couple's home. It was then that authorities say an officer spotted some paws sticking out of a sheet in the backyard.
A necropsy revealed that the dog had been dead for around three to five days and that a "cloth-like material was balled up with some bones in its stomach," which would have caused a slow death by starvation, investigators said.
If convicted of the charges, Groncki could face up to three years in prison along with fines. Gibson could be sentenced to up to two years in prison as well as fines.
