Man charged after dead dog found in home

LESAGE, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A man was taken to jail after a dead dog was found in a trash bag inside his home.

Neighbors along Cox Landing Lane in Lesage reported seeing a dog alarmingly thin and weak.

Cabell County humane officer Seth Vickers performed a welfare check. He says on Sept. 8, the dog’s owner, 50-year-old Christopher Cullum, said he was struggling to get the dog to gain weight.

The humane officer says Cullum agreed to take the dog to the vet, but then he didn’t answer his phone for several days.

Vickers says Tuesday, humane officers and deputies went into Cullum’s home and found the dog dead in a trash bag.

He says it had died of starvation at the very least.

“The individual (Cullum) had left the animal in the middle of his living room for two days deceased before he then put it in a trash bag,” Vickers said. “It sat there about 10 or 11 days. The odor was very severe.”

Cullum was arrested and charged with felony animal cruelty. His bond was set at $5,000.

“We do our best to investigate it as soon as we can and head these things off,” Vickers said. “Whenever something results in death, it demands an immediate response. It’s a horrible thing to deal with.”

Vickers says another dog found in better shape at the home was taken to the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Control Shelter and is expected to be available for adoption.

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