Fairburn man facing 80 counts of animal cruelty, neglect

FAIRBURN, Ga. — A south Fulton County man is facing 80 animal cruelty and neglect charges.

Investigators say the man had four dead cows on his property and another 36 cows did not have enough food or proper water.

The man told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr that he denies allegations of abuse as well as the claims by two women who say they witnessed the abuse for weeks before investigators made it out to the property.

"My father is a cattlemen and my uncle was a cattleman, and they would never let their livestock get to this point," the first woman told Carr.

"It's sad. It's really sad," the second woman said.

The two women want to remain unidentified. They say they raised red flags about dying animals on the Fairburn property. For weeks their eyes were drawn to a pond on the property.

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"The cow was emerged in the mud up to his chest area. He was moving his head from side-to-side at the time. That was on the 6^th," the second woman said.

By Thursday, that cow, alongside another, was found dead, with Fulton County Animal Services telling us the carcasses contaminated the main source of water for the 36 living cattle.

Officials say the remains of two more cattle were also located and there wasn't enough food for the living.

They cited the livestock owner, Timothy King, with 40 counts of animal cruelty and 40 counts of animal neglect.

"They're not cruelty. The cows are just as healthy as they can be," King told Carr by phone Saturday night.

King denied the allegations, saying there's plenty of food in the barn that he gives to the cows regularly.

"No. No because we pass by here multiple times a day. No, he do not," the second woman said.

Carr: "We did see some (cows) that looked boney.”

King: "There's some of them out there that is 10-12 years old and will not get anymore fat on them. I wasn't aware that they were saying it was animal cruelty, really.”

Carr: “The citations were for 40 counts of animal cruelty.”

King: “There's not even 40 cows there.

There were, in fact, 40 cows on the property if you add up the carcasses, the remains and the living animals.

Cox Media Group