Man Charged With Animal Cruelty Accused Of Letting Cats, Spiders And Snakes
Starve
TEXARKANA, Texas–When police and animal control officers went through a
home in Texarkana last Friday, they allegedly found cats that were so
desperate for food that some had eaten others, along with shriveled up
tarantulas, starved snakes and one dead creature they could not immediately
identify.
Bryant Dewayne Savage, 48, allegedly told the officers that he only fed the
cats when the homeowner, who was living out of town, sent him money,
according to a probable cause affidavit filed Wednesday. There was
allegedly no food in the house for the cats.
Police and animal control responded to the house in the 3700 block of Rio
Grande Ave. after receiving a report that cats were being neglected and the
home’s occupant had not been seen outside in three weeks.
When the officers knocked on doors and windows at the home, they received
no answer, the affidavit said. They could smell the odor of animal waste
and could see cats roaming in the front room through a window. After
entering through an unlocked door, the officers noted 15 shriveled up and
dead tarantulas in enclosures in the kitchen.
As they walked through the house, the officers noted the strong smell of
urine and feces and could hear cats crying and scratching at the door of
the room they were confined to before they heard a man’s voice.
Savage allegedly told the officers that it had been a week since the three
living cats found in a locked room had been fed. Savage allegedly told the
officers that there had previously been nine cats in the home and when
asked what happened to the other six cats, Savage allegedly said, “They
died.”
Officers “observed feces, urine, hair and bones all over the room,” the
affidavit said.
“There were piles and piles of feces covering the entire room,” the
affidavit said. “The floor was soaked in feces, urine and blood.”
Animal control concluded that the starving cats had eaten other cats, the
affidavit said. In addition to the dead pet tarantulas, officers also found
two ball pythons that had died from lack of care and a dead animal they
could not identify inside an enclosure.
Savage is currently being held in the Bowie County jail with bail set at
$200,000. If found guilty, Savage faces two to ten years in prison.
The case has been assigned to 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.