Three people in Gaston County have been charged with animal cruelty this week.
Two were arrested in connection with the same incident. According to police, a 4-month-old dog was starved and beat between the dates of June 18, 2018 and August 23 of this year. The dog had been starved, tortured, beaten, and ultimately killed by starvation by 23-year-old Nicholas Andrew Cowart and 48-year-old Rhonda Ann Watson.
The two were arrested on Friday following investigations. Cowart was charged with one count of felony killing an animal by starvation and one count of felony cruelty to animals. Watson was charged with one count of felony killing an animal by starvation.
Another suspect, 23-year-old Darien Barber, was charged and arrested in an unrelated incident involving an animal. According to police, the suspect had shot and killed a stray dog in his neighborhood on August 10 in Gastonia in the neighborhood of West McFarland Avenue.
He was charged with one count of felony cruelty to animals. He was jailed in Gaston County Jail with a bond of $10,000.
