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‘I Didn’t Starve Her On Purpose’: North Carolina Woman Faces Animal Cruelty Charges

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Melanie Wilcox Contributor
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A woman in North Carolina who was charged with animal cruelty spoke out for the first time Friday.

Lindsey Rue, 39, of Leicester, North Carolina told ABC 13 News that she knows she failed to provide adequate living conditions for her pets. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) seized her 41 dogs and other animals from her home on Jan. 31. (RELATED: Woman Faces Animal Cruelty Charges After Officials Recover 49 Mini Horses and 39 Chickens)

“Were they living in fabulous conditions? No,” said Rue, who was charged for starving her horse, Athena.

“I didn’t starve her on purpose,” Rue said. “From my perspective a lot of people have been falling on hard times right now, and that’s exactly what happened to us.”

The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office investigators say they think Rue was responsible for Athena’s death.

Rue’s neighbors have placed more than 60 calls and complaints about problems at the residence since November 2022. Bill Rogers, a neighbor of Rue’s, said he made a gate to keep her dogs out, and that her dogs constantly barked. He said that since the animals were taken, the noise on Tall Tree Drive has quieted down.

Rue has a court appearance Feb. 22. She is charged with multiple felonies, including killing an animal by starvation, animal cruelty, and child neglect.