Gwinnett man accused of letting 2 dogs starve, neglecting them for months

John Erich Grubbs

Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office

Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office

John Erich Grubbs

A Gwinnett County man is facing charges after police said he neglected his two dogs for months and let them starve to death, Channel 2 Action News reported.

John Erich Grubbs of Lilburn is charged with two counts of aggravated animal cruelty, the news station reported.

Gwinnett animal control officials said it is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty they’ve seen, Channel 2 reported.

Neighbors told police they heard a muffled barking coming from a wooden pen in the backyard of Grubbs’ home on Park Forest Court, Channel 2 reported. The neighbors peeked inside and saw the dogs. One was dead, and the other was “extremely malnourished,” officials said.

The neighbors then called police.

“The officer stated he was able to smell the pen — the feces in the pen — from the front of the house,” police spokesman Cpl. Michael Parker told Channel 2.

The officer saw no signs of food or water in the pen, Parker said. The second dog was taken to a veterinarian, but later died.

Grubbs said the dogs were sick and he had tried to get de-worming medicine for them, Channel 2 reported. He said he was taking care of the animals and they were fed twice a day.

“It would be months of neglect for it to get as bad as it was,” Parker said.

Grubbs was booked into the Gwinnett jail Saturday. He was later released on a $7,000 bond, jail records show.

In other news: