Records: County seized 42 animals while Virginia shelter was under state scrutiny

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PRINCE GEORGE, Va. — New records obtained by CBS 6 show Prince George County Animal Services seized 42 animals from a local woman in September 2024 while the shelter was under state scrutiny for a critical violation — and while animal control officers had already acknowledged to that same woman that the shelter did not have room for her animals.

The records raise new questions about the county's decision to pursue the seizure and the conditions under which those animals were housed after being taken.

"If they already knew that they were under investigation and they already had problems of these other animals having to be euthanized, why would they take it upon themselves to seize 42? It's not one or two stray animals. This is 42 animals, apparently and visually healthy," said Eric Livingston, attorney for Donna Newton, the Prince George County woman whose animals were seized.

Newton, whose property is zoned agricultural and who held a valid kennel license at the time, has animal cruelty and inadequate care convictions on her record and owes Prince George County tens of thousands of dollars.

"I did nothing illegal," Newton said.

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What the state found at the shelter

According to Freedom of Information (FOIA) documents obtained by CBS 6, the state veterinarian conducted a follow-up inspection at the Prince George animal shelter on Aug. 28, 2024 — just two days before animal control officers visited Newton's property and six days before her animals were seized.

That inspection was a follow-up to non-compliance issues first identified on April 10, 2024.

Among numerous minor violations, a critical violation was issued for medically compromised animals. A German Shepherd puppy named Tiny had to be euthanized after a staff member found her on the floor bleeding with her abdominal organs protruding. The report states that dog was not safely housed after sterilization.

According to state records, the shelter was still not in compliance at the August 28 follow-up visit, with three repeat non-critical violations.

CBS 6 obtained a letter dated Dec. 23, 2024, which confirms the state vet dismissed a $750 civil penalty against the shelter related to those violations.

Since then, the shelter is under new leadership and, according to a July 2025 inspection, is in compliance.

The shelter was at capacity — and officers told Newton

In the August 30, 2024, recorded interaction between Newton and animal control officers — just days before the seizure — an officer acknowledged the shelter's limitations directly.

"We don't have room for them at the shelter," an animal control officer said in the recording.

County records obtained by CBS 6 show that after the seizure, Abner and 38 other animals taken from Newton were boarded at a veterinary clinic in Disputanta, where Prince George Animal Services was renting space because of that limited kennel capacity.

Newton said she had concerns about her animals being placed at the shelter.

"Why do you think I didn't want none of my dogs at their place," Newton said.

The dog the county lost

CBS 6's investigation uncovered that the county lost evidence in the case. According to FOIA documents, Newton's dog Abner — numbered by the county as "LR-13" — was listed as "escaped" on Sept. 10, 2024, one week after being seized.

According to sources, five of Newton's dogs dug out of an outdoor enclosure the county built. Four were recovered. Another record provided to CBS 6 through FOIA confirmed Abner was listed as "MIA."

FOIA documents show Abner was being housed in a "barn stall."

The Prince George County Police Department said kennel space at the shelter was severely limited at the time, and that housing Abner in the outdoor enclosure was an attempt to provide more space than a typical kennel. The department said surrounding neighbors were consulted, a dog trap was set out and the neighboring jurisdiction was notified.

"I could have looked for him," Newton said, in tears. "He was 10 years old. He never slept outside a day in his life."

"They should have been taking care of what they have to take care of," Newton said.

Background: The seizure and the investigation behind it

Newton recorded an hour and 20 minutes of her interaction with Prince George Animal Control officers on Aug. 30, 2024. The officers were following up on a welfare check conducted eight days earlier, on August 22, 2024 when they executed a search warrant. Court documents show Newton was also being investigated in connection with Facebook posts she shared of a friend's puppies.

In the recorded cell phone video, an animal control officer can be heard saying, "We don't want to be on the news. We don't want the TV crew to come rolling up in here and be in your face. We don't want you to go to jail. We don't want your property to be seized from you. We don't want any of that."

Newton had been given a written list of items that needed to be completed by that day, including getting some of her animals examined by a vet and up to date on rabies shots. Officers also took pictures documenting the condition of the home and the need for adequate food and shelter.

"I did everything you said on the list," Newton said.

An animal control officer responded: "Okay, we can go back out there and I guess, come up with a game plan now."

But the officers pressed Newton repeatedly about her pregnant Dachshund, which she had re-homed.

"We need to know where that dog went," an officer said in the video.

"What's the time frame that you can get the mom back?" another officer asked.

CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said the officers' approach raised questions.

"Clearly, they want to sort of intimidate her and compel her to give them what they want. She did not have to talk at all," Stone said.

Despite an officer's assurance in the video — "We don't want to come in here and take your animals. We're not going to come do it all of a sudden" — that is exactly what happened 4 days later.

According to a search warrant dated September 3, 2024, all of Newton's animals were seized as part of an "illegally breeding" investigation. Prince George County Acting Police Chief James Nicholas said it was part of a multi-jurisdictional criminal investigation. That investigation was never prosecuted.

Nicholas told CBS 6 it was a legitimate investigation, but that "evidence, admissions, and other facts gathered during the course of this investigation simply did not develop to a level that would satisfy state code requirements for an illegal/commercial breeding charge."

The warrant cites Newton's failure to comply with correcting violations found on August 22, 2024 but it acknowledges on the same page that she did comply with a "few" violations, which are not listed. The warrant also mentions she failed to surrender her pregnant Dachshund as agreed upon.

CBS 6 obtained more than 700 documents in this case through FOIA. One of those documents — an animal control note — states Newton ended communication with officers, and that is what left them no choice but to continue with legal action and the seizure of the animals.

Nicholas said the seizure was based on Newton's "inability to properly care for the animals or provide basic animal care to all." He cited sick kittens with draining eyes and apparent upper respiratory infections, not nearly enough dog houses for the number of dogs on site, and several dogs in need of grooming.

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"It's a travesty," Livingston said.

"If you're trying to claim that people are abusing and neglecting their animals, and they're not providing adequate care. Why do you give the animals back? It's counterintuitive," Livingston said.

A veterinarian's assessment — the day before the seizure

Disputana Veternarian Kim Eaton visited Newton's house the day before the animals were seized. A mutual friend had asked Eaton to help place some of the animals. Eaton said she had no ties to Newton.

"Citizens shouldn't have to fear that animal control can storm into your house, and they can come in and if they take your dog and if they find it had an ear infection, they can take all your animals," Eaton said. "She wasn't committing a crime, and she was trying to do what was right, and in the end, was wronged by a resource that really could have been helpful to her, and that's how animal control should be."

Eaton added, "They're going to argue that her house smelled, her house was a mess, it was small. There was nothing alarming to me about any of the animals that I saw, just with a walk through and a hands on examination of a few, with the exception of the one dog that was down in the rear, or she was lame in the rear, and she had vet records that she was getting help."

That dog was Xena.

Xena: A dog who died in county custody

Vet records show Xena was seen for a chronic skin condition, weight loss and an ear infection a week before animal control's first welfare check. She was rechecked Aug. 29, 2024, as instructed by animal control.

According to an April 11, 2025, necropsy, Xena died weighing 60 pounds while in the custody of Prince George County Animal Services — a loss of 11 pounds from the day she was seized.

The Prince George County Police Department said Xena had complex pre-existing medical conditions when she was seized, that she was under veterinary care while in Animal Services' custody, and that she was provided a hydrolyzed Purina dog food formula recommended by her vet. Nicholas said the primary veterinarian caring for Xena ultimately recommended euthanasia due to severe underlying gastrointestinal complications.

A post-mortem examination revealed severe ulcerative colitis, moderate enteritis, mild gastritis, intestinal parasitism, mild interstitial pneumonia, hepatitis, kidney disease, hemangioma and Eucoleus boehmi infection.

Xena was a 10-year-old German Shepherd.

Prince George County Police said in part: "The core mission of animal services is to educate, provide resources, investigate and enforce animal law violations, providing basic care to displaced animals, and finding displaced animals a forever home. Our Animal Services staff go above and beyond in making every effort to avoid euthanasia."

The convictions

Newton was convicted Nov. 13, 2025, of one count of animal cruelty in Xena's case, two counts for an ear infection in a second dog that required sedation to treat, and two counts of inadequate care for two other dogs.

"It is not that unusual at all for a dog to have an ear infection and no one to know about it, and it's found at the veterinary office. That is very normal," Eaton said.

When asked whether that justified animal cruelty charges, Eaton said, "I don't think that it justifies taking somebody's animals. In fact, they didn't know that the dogs had an ear infection when they were taken."

Eaton bathed, groomed, and treated two of the dogs that had been seized and were the subject of Newton's convictions — one involving animal cruelty and the other involving inadequate care — and documented their conditions while in the custody of the county.

"How can they charge me with animal cruelty on an ear infection when my dogs were so matted they had poop and feces and urine all over them," Newton said. "If they're gonna take them, at least take care of them. I don't know what happened to my other animals."

The Prince George County Police Department said the dogs involved were standard poodles, a breed known for intense grooming needs, and that the shelter did not staff a groomer or have any employee trained or certified to groom. The department said the shelter was at capacity at the time and that providing basic care — food, water, clean kennels and critical medical needs — was the priority.

Michelle Welch was appointed the special prosecutor in Newton's case. Welch leads the Animal Law section at the Virginia Attorney General's Office. CBS 6 reached out to the Attorney General's Office for comment on the case but had not heard back at the time of publication.

Livingston said Newton's conviction was compounded by missing records.

"The judge only has to decide on his own based on the evidence provided by the attorney general's office. She had all of her records taken by animal control, and not provided back to me so I could use in court. But she testified to that. She had routine medical care for these dogs, including the poodles that had the ear infections," Livingston said.

According to Livingston, the judge did not allow testimony that the county lost evidence in the case.

"It's an abuse of authority. It's abuse of power," Livingston said.

The texts that followed Newton's appeal

Prior to her convictions, Newton appealed her case. To do so, she had to post a $10,000 bond.

Four days later, on October 4, 2024, Prince George Animal Control Officer Amanda Griffith reached out to an animal control officer from another jurisdiction in a text exchange obtained by CBS 6 through FOIA.

The texts read in part:

"Donna Newton appealed her case! She paid the $10,000 appeal bond!"

"She's been posting for go fund mes on fb bring the blues because animal control took her babies (puke face emojis)"

The other officer responded: "Yall are still charging more restitution by the day, right?"

Griffith replied: "Oh absolutely."

"She's going to be in so much debt after all this is over with and she still not gonna get her animals back. She's f---ing stupid."

Six days after that exchange, on October 10, 2024, 168 charges were filed against Newton, 4 of them arrest warrants.

One month later, on November 12, 2024, 160 of those charges were dismissed at the direction of Prince George County Police.

Nicholas said, "The charge count was not supported by command staff at the Police Department and ultimately remedied at the request of command staff through the Commonwealth Attorney's Office."

"Rarely does law enforcement need to charge 160 charges for a case like this," Stone said. "These tactics that the animal control agents used are pretty common tactics, but you see some of the text messages and things behind it, and it's definitely kind of sloppy, and there's some unprofessional things going on."

When asked about the texts, Nicholas said, "The Prince George County Police Department demands a high level of professionalism from all employees, regardless of circumstance. Fair and dignified service is non-negotiable."

Nicholas said, "Restitution is not for profit and exists simply to make the county 'whole' again in terms of operational expenses." He added, "The restitution costs were significantly lower than what could have been pursued."

The department declined to comment on whether disciplinary action was taken against Griffith, saying it does not comment on specific personnel matters.

The following year, Newton's appeal bond was raised to more than $44,000 for the cost to care for the animals — animals she says never should have been taken from her in the first place.

Where things stand

Newton dropped her appeal and has been paying the county monthly restitution. Her monthly restitution has since been reduced by $200. Her next court date is January 7, 2027.

Newton was sentenced to 12 months in jail with all time suspended and has a three-dog ban. The dogs were returned to her before she was ever charged.

"Nobody would ever give back an animal to somebody that you're going to charge with animal cruelty. I mean, that doesn't even make sense. You don't do that," Eaton said. "You let the judge decide what the punishment is going to be, but your job is to protect the animal and take it out of the situation or the conditions that it's in ... in this particular case, they took the animals, then gave some back, and then tried to pursue the multitude of things they were trying to charge her with and if this one didn't work, they changed to another one, then it changed to another one, until they could finally find something that they could take her to court about," said Eaton.

"This [Newton] case resulted in several criminal convictions in court, and the seizure was upheld by the courts," Nicholas said.

"The Prince George County Police Department is a highly regarded police agency, and we have a long-established track record of exceptional service delivery to the Prince George County community," Nicholas said.

The Prince George County Police Department said the animal services manager in 2024 resigned on her own accord and that a police lieutenant was moved to the shelter to manage animal services during the search for a new manager. Prince George Animal Services has implemented a new Notice to Comply form to manage welfare check and seizure situations, tracking concerns, violations, time frames and communication between animal control staff and animal owners. The department said animal services is now under new supervision.

The current Animal Services Manager, Rob Leinberger, was hired in July 2025. Within his first 3 months, the shelter completed a Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspection resulting in 100% compliance with all standards.

Under Virginia law, the state vet has the authority to inspect private veterinary offices like the one where Newton's animals were being boarded. When asked about that in this case, a spokesperson said: "The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is not involved in this animal cruelty case. The agency does not perform inspections of veterinary hospitals or other temporary shelters that are used as a result of lawful seizures."

A special prosecutor reviewed the case but did not seek criminal charges.

Newton said the pain of losing her animals remains.

"They come in, in one minute, yanked it all out of my life. I'd rather they shot me than take my animals," Newton said.

"I'll never, ever, ever get over this," Newton said.

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