‘Shockingly vile’: Wake County woman arrested after dog skeletons found, kittens starving: Officials

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A woman was arrested in a “shockingly vile” Wake County home on several animal cruelty charges Friday after skeletons of dogs and starving kittens were discovered, according to deputies and a magistrate.

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The arrest happened at a house on Pendleton Lake Road north of Raleigh, off Possum Track Road just past Six Forks Road, according to the Wake County Sheriff’s Office and a Wake County magistrate.

Deputies found “shocking conditions” with two unidentifiable skeletonized dogs in crates in a basement and the skeleton of a third dog, identified as a Yorkie, also in a crate, a magistrate wrote, and a sheriff’s office deputy said in an arrest warrant.

A conditions of release order completed by a Wake County magistrate said that deputies were stunned by the discoveries.

“Deputies described stepping into [a] house so shockingly vile that ‘describing it doesn’t do it justice’,” the conditions of release order said. “One deputy stated that the smell was so overpowering that her eyes watered. In one crate, deputies found [a] dog that had been dead for more than year. The dog’s skeleton was found in crate full of feces.”

Karen Sue Tupman, 66, who lives at the home with a Raleigh address, was charged with three counts of felony animal cruelty in the deaths of the dogs, the warrant said.

“It appears the defendant subjected multiple animals to shocking conditions of suffering that eventually caused death,” the magistrate wrote in the release conditions order.

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Deputies said they also found three kittens that the suspect did “intentionally deprive of necessary sustenance.”

The warrant said the suspect is facing three misdemeanor animal cruelty charges linked to the following felines:

• Biscuit, a tuxedo kitten
• Gravy, a gray/white kitten
• Waffle, a striped kitten

The arrest came after officials said the suspect was recently trying to obtain more pets.

“As part of her attempt to foster more animals, the defendant needed to take some of her (still-living) animals to the vet, who discovered the animals were poorly underweight,” the conditions of release order said.

Tupman was held in the Wake County Detention Center on a $50,000 secured bond.

Her first court appearance is planned in Wake County District Court on Monday afternoon.

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