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Animal Crematory Workers Charged With Theft PDF Print E-mail
Written by DeadGirl   
Sunday, 26 June 2005
The Knox County Sheriff's Department arrested one employee of now-closed animal crematory, while issuing an arrest warrant for the company's owner.

Michael Badgett and Mikel Bradley, both face 15 counts of theft. A spokeswoman for Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison says Badgett and Bradley both took money for the purposed of animal cremation, then never cremated the animals or returned the money paid for those services.

Badgett is at the Knox County jail. His bond is $42,500. Bradley is not in custody, and investigators believe he is not in East Tennessee.

The FBI and Scott County Virginia authorities are also investigating Ross Ann services, which was located at 601 Van St. while open for business. They are trying to figure out what role, if any, Ross Ann employees or owners had in the dumping of 100 dead dogs on Virginia road back in April. Many of those animals had tags linking them to Knoxville veterinarian clinics which worked with Ross Ann.

"Our community as a whole will be extremely happy that these men are being held accountable in some regard for their actions or lack of action," said Kristi Lively, Chair of the Knoxville Veterinarian’s Association.

Ross Ann was already closed for business when the Knox County Health Department declared it a health nuisance on April 19. Their report says dozens of dead animals were left rotting inside, some not even in plastic bags.

In March, the city also cited Ross Ann for unsanitary conditions, saying thousands of maggots were in the company's parking lot.

A combination of those events coupled wit the Virginia investigation prompted the creation of support sessions to help pet owners in Knox County deal with the onslaught of information.

"There's a lot of anger so I think this will help them get closure," said Lively.

From a personal standpoint, she hopes a judge will throw the book at the two suspects, though she doubts that will fully happen.

"I don't think there's a book to throw," said Lively. "There's no legislation regarding this type of business."

While she and others work on improving regulation of animal crematories, she hopes the legal process involving Badgett and Bradley will help others navigate through an emotionally draining process.

"It's a good day when animal welfare is acted upon in a legal matter," said Lively.

Source: WBIR-TV Knoxville, TN
 
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