A New Jersey couple who left their dog tied to a backyard fence for days after they moved out of state have been charged with animal cruelty, authorities announced Thursday.
Curtis Swan, 27, and Aaleyah Clay, 29, moved from Roselle to Sandy Springs, Georgia, on Nov. 15 and told a neighbor they planned to eventually return to pick up the dog, a young male husky, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.
The dog had a severe, infected open wound covering much of his neck when an animal control officer found it at the home on Nov. 20, prosecutors said. Officials brought the dog to the Newark branch of Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey for treatment and later moved it to an animal shelter in south Jersey, where it continues to recuperate.
Swan and Clay are each charged with causing serious bodily injury to a domesticated animal by neglecting it and abandonment of a domesticated animal. They could each face up to five years in prison if convicted.
Telephone numbers for the pair could not be found Thursday, and it wasn’t known if either has retained an attorney.
