WAUSEON, Ohio — A dog groomer accused of strangling, striking and shaking dogs at her business has been found guilty of animal cruelty charges.
Theresa Taylor, 64, of Bryan, was indicted on six fifth-degree felony counts. Court records show the charges are in connection to episodes over four days in August 2019 with various dogs at her grooming store, Theresa's Grooming.
On Thursday, a Fulton County Common Pleas Court jury found Taylor guilty of five counts of cruelty to a companion animal. The jury of eight men and four men deliberated for about three and half hours before returning the guilty verdict.
The charges came after a former employee talked with Archbold police and provided surveillance footage.
Surveillance footage shows Taylor gripping and pulling dogs by their ears and the skin on their heads. The breeds of dogs involved reportedly were two Shihs Tzu, a Shih Tzu-poodle mix, a labradoodle, a dachshund and a collie.
The case was prosecuted by Fulton County Assistant Prosecuting attorney Paul Kennedy and Taylor was represented by Whitehouse attorney Joseph Urenovitch.
The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by the Fulton County Dog Warden.
In June 2019, Taylor's husband, faced felony charges after he allegedly shot and killed four dogs.
According to court records, Philip H. Taylor used a 9 mm handgun in the incident.
One of the animals Taylor killed was a therapy dog owned by Lori and Randy Beck. The couple had left Lily in the care of Theresa Taylor.
According to Randy Beck, Theresa Taylor posted on Facebook back in June that her husband left their back door open, and all the dogs ran away. The Becks called her to check in and see if Lily was OK. But, when she answered the phone, the family said Theresa Taylor was in hysterics.
When the Becks told her they wanted to help search for Lily, she allegedly replied, "No, she's dead."
Theresa Taylor reportedly told the Becks that her husband shot her three dogs as well as their dog, Lily, and disposed of their bodies.
