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Police: Conditions at Athens residence 'unlivable for humans or animals'

Updated: May 30, 2020


Jail booking photo of Patricia Danielle Scott taken after October 2019 family violence arrest

By Joe Johnson

An Athens woman is facing animal cruelty charges for keeping dogs and cats under inhumane conditions at her former home on Belmont Road, according to an Athens-Clarke County police report.

Police learned of the situation the afternoon of May 24 when a representative of the home's landlords reported that she believed that 32-year-old Patricia Danielle Scott, who had been behind in rent, abandoned the residence prior to eviction and left behind dogs, which she heard barking inside, according to the report.

After an officer looked through a window and saw two dogs locked in a crate, with no food or water and lying in their own excrement, the landlords gave him permission to go inside the residence by forced entry, according to the police report.

Once inside, the officer observed deplorable conditions that he documented in the report:

“I found the residence in horrendous conditions, unlivable for humans or animals.

“There were animal feces and urine all over the floors as well as thousands of bugs in plain sight," the officer wrote in his report.

“The dogs had no food or water in their crate and the crate was filled with excrement and urine.

“Also inside the residence I located two cats who appeared very thin and had no access to food or fresh water,” the officer wrote. “One cat escaped and immediately began eating grass, likely because it was so hungry.”

While the officer remained on the scene, the landlord’s rep sent a text message to Scott to advise her of the situation, to which the woman responded that she had been out of town, according to the police report.

An officer from Athens-Clarke County Animal Services responded to the scene and took custody of the animals.

The officer noted in his report that he acquired arrest warrants charging Scott with four counts of cruelty to animals.

Scott had yet to be taken into custody as of Saturday evening.

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