A Conway woman cited for operating a puppy mill in Horry County was doing the same exact thing less than a year ago according to police reports.
An Horry County Police incident report states Renee James ran a puppy mill with upwards of 250 dogs less than a year ago.
Last week, Horry County Police charged Renee James with failure to provide proper care and treatment of animals.
Law enforcement said in last week’s citation, James operated a puppy mill with nearly 150 dogs.
The original incident report, dated March 31 2014, states officers were called out to her property because James was unable to handle the amount of dogs.
The report says James gave up 124 dogs and no action was taken.
On November 4, 2013, News13News 13ted a judge ordered Debra and William Goulding to pay $1,420 to the human society or face around 810 days in jail for mistreatment of animals.
They were also prevented from owning animals for more than 2 years.
Police said the two lived in unsanitary conditions with the animals.
The fine the Goulding’s faced is nearly three times what James was cited.
News 13 asked Horry County Police Spokesperson Lieutenant Raul Denis why James did not face stricter penalties.
He said the animals James had in her possession were not in good shape, but none were dead.
In the Goulding case, law enforcement found several dead cats.
Lt. Denis says James could have faced a citation for every animal, however law enforcement felt the
Impact to her business, losing the dogs and a large source of income, was enough.
Current county ordinances say failure to provide care and treatment for animals is a misdemeanor; any stricter punishment would require a change in the law.
Horry County Public Safety Committee and County Council Member Bob Grabowski said this is something he plans to bring up at a future committee meeting.
News 13 reached out to South Carolina State Senator Greg Hembree to see what changes could be made, however he did not respond.
