By Joe Johnson
An Athens man recently was arrested for animal cruelty in connection with a dog that had a freshly-amputated leg.
Gary Tavarus Lumpkin, 42, of Minor Street was charged with cruelty to animals and abandonment of a dog.
He was arrested on warrants stemming from an investigation that police said began on Dec. 8 when a pack of dogs approached a K-9 unit that was on patrol in the area of Waddell and Minor streets.
The unit's officer noticed that one of the dogs was a brown pitbull that had a leg that was amputated above the paw and below the lower leg joint and "oozing clear fluid and blood," according to a police report.
The officer noted in the report that the amputation appeared to be fresh and was "very dirty and at risk of infection ."
The dog reportedly retreated onto property where Lumpkin is landlord and someone was believed to have put it inside the house by the time Animal Control arrived.
According to police, an investigation led to Animal Control later finding the dog "abandoned" off a road in northwest Athens-Clarke County near the Jackson County line.
The investigation led ACCPD to believe that Gary Lumpkin owned the three-legged dog, was aware of its condition, and that he abandoned it sometime after the officer initially observed it, police department spokesman Geof Gilland said.
Polic subsequently obtained warrants for cruelty and abandonment, and Lumpkin was served with them on Jan. 8.
He was released from jail upon posting bonds totaling $2,500.
A condition of his release is that he abide the terms of his parole.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Lumpkin was paroled in February 2020 from Rogers State Prison, where he was serving a 30-year sentence for a drug trafficking conviction in Athens-Clarke County.