GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Last week, the owner of a dog found locked in a closet inside an abandoned Gwinnett County house was finally found and taken into custody - in Virginia.
In July, the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office said deputies had found a dog who had somehow survived for two weeks locked inside a closet in a house where the owners had been evicted.
When the deputies searched the home, they said in a Facebook post that they were "dismayed to find an emaciated dog left abandoned in a closet."
He was taken to the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter for care, while deputies took on the task of trying to find the dog's owner.
"There’s no reason to ever leave any animal abandoned in an empty space," the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook. "Our county has an animal shelter with caring animal lovers who do their best to help every animal in their care."
Deputies said they had been working with the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office to find the owner of the dog since that point.
A deputy was finally able to track down the dog's owner at a mobile home in Virginia.
After contacting Carroll County, Va., Sheriff's Office for assistance, law enforcement was to able to arrest Jerry Lewis Robinson Jr. on Thursday, August 22, 2019, without incident.
The Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office said that Robinson will be extradited to Georgia in order to face charges of animal cruelty for leaving his dog locked in a closet that would have eventually have become his death chamber if not for the intervention of law enforcement.
Officials at the Gwinnett Animal Shelter have been notified so they may determine if the owner of the dog will surrender him for adoption.
"We’re glad our deputies were in the right place at the right time to rescue this dog," the sheriff's office said in their initial Facebook post. "He deserves a loving family."
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