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Animal cruelty charges to be dropped against Carroll County woman

Posted at 6:28 PM, May 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-22 18:58:01-04

The State's Attorney's Office announced it will dismiss animal cruelty charges against the founder of Animal Advocates of Carroll County. 

Laura Shenk was charged with nine counts involving animal abuse or neglect by an animal control officer with the Carroll County Humane Society on March 20, 2017. 

RELATED: Animal advocate faces cruelty charges

State’s Attorney DeLeonardo explained,

“We take any allegations of animal abuse extremely seriously, and that is why I had senior prosecutors carefully evaluate these criminal charges. After reviewing in detail the investigation performed by a member of the Carroll County Humane Society, however, we had concerns over the manner in which this investigation was handled both before and after charges were lodged. As prosecutors, we have our own ethical obligation to ensure investigations are constitutionally performed, as well as performed in a way that establishes faith in the outcome of an investigation among the public. In the end, we all believed that this investigation fell short of that standard.”