Officials: South Carolina woman arrested after 9 puppies found in trash bag

SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. — A woman in South Carolina was arrested after tree service workers found a black bag with puppies inside, officials say.

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In a news release, Spartanburg County said an animal cruelty investigator was called out to a wooded area at Shiloh Church Road in Pauline, South Carolina, on Feb. 27. A tree service company in the area called 911 after they found a black trash bag that was tied up. The county said the workers noticed that the bag appeared to be moving.

The trash bag had a cardboard box inside with nine puppies, the county said. Of the nine, only six of them were alive. The investigator said that the puppies were about four weeks old.

Evidence at the scene led investigators to a house on Saratoga Avenue, according to WSPA.

The animal cruelty investigator and the litter officer spoke with Tara Elizabeth Johns on Wednesday. She reportedly admitted to the animal abandonment and littering charges, according to Spartanburg County.

Johns was arrested for the littering violation and the county said that arrest warrants were obtained for the animal abandonment charge.

“We would like to thank the tree service workers who did the right thing by reporting this incident and for going one step further by volunteering to care for the puppies,” the county said in the news release.

Spartanburg Humane Society President and CEO Angel Cox told WSPA that they would have taken the puppies in if asked even if there is overcrowding and that they would have tried to locate the puppies’ mother in order to have her nurse them which is the safest thing for them until they are at least six weeks old.

“In Spartanburg County, when it comes to individuals mistreating animals, everyone needs to be put on notice,” Environmental Enforcement Director Jamie Nelson said in the news release. “Environmental Enforcement Officers will investigate and utilize all available laws in our toolbox to seek justice.”