WARTBURG – The chief prosecutor for Morgan County says he wants to pursue a case against a pet crematory where hundreds of dogs and cats were buried instead of burned, but he is facing roadblocks.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports District Attorney General Russell Johnson sent a five-page letter to state Sen. Ken Yager, R-Harriman and state Rep. John Mark Windle, D-Livingston about the problems.
He said his office has received numerous inquiries from customers who are outraged that their beloved pets may have been thrown into a mass grave rather than cremated. But Johnson said he can’t initiate criminal charges unless the state Department of Environment and Conservation requests his involvement, which it has not done.
Meanwhile, the owner of Elliott Pet Services, Cameo Farr, says she has done nothing wrong. Farr said the animals found on her property were buried at the request of their owners.
She told the paper that inaccurate media reports about her crematory have shut her business down and bankrupted her. The crematory was located in the front yard of Farr’s isolated Morgan County home. DA Johnson described the crematory as having a “striking resemblance to a pig roaster.”