Georgetown County Sheriff shares details on recent animal cruelty case

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - Georgetown County sheriff gives details on the animal cruelty case that occurred earlier this month.

Sheriff Carter Weaver says he has never experienced anything like this in his 40-year career, regarding Ralph and Kimberly Moody, who were charged in a recent animal cruelty case where over 160 live animals and approximately 125 dead animals were found.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Docs: Georgetown man charged in animal cruelty case originally said he only had 5 dogs

“It’s just unspeakable,” Weaver said. “This has been one of the most heartbreaking situations our staff and volunteers have experienced.”

According to Sheriff Weaver, calls began about the Moody home in 2019, and he believes red flags should have been raised after a specific incident in December 2024.

“So the deputy goes back to the house, and the deputy simply says, “I understand you have some dogs. Can I see them?” Moody goes, “No, my wife is sick, I don’t want any outside germs coming into the house, no.” Sheriff Weaver explained.

The animals have since been moved to various animal shelters, with most of them being at St. Frances Animal Center.

“We’re at a situation today that hasn’t been discussed. Our animal control officers can no longer take more dogs off of the street because there is nowhere for them to go,” he says.

To ensure something like this will not happen again, Sheriff Weaver is calling for action at the county level.

“As far as the house since 2019, we are in the middle of administrative review on that, but I don’t need some 30-day review to show me that number 1, we need an animal cruelty investigator in Georgetown County,” he said. “It needs to be funded by Georgetown County, but he or she needs to be housed under the umbrella of St. Frances.”

In response to Sheriff Weaver’s comments, County Council Chairman Clinton Elliott said, “I have talked to the sheriff about that, and I told him I thought it was a good idea. Unfortunately, we have already approved this budget, but next year we will look very hard at it.”

St. Frances Animal Center is having an adoption event this weekend. It is said that the affected animals will not be involved in the adoption, but rather create room for them at the facility.

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