Bay County woman operating 'puppy mill' sentenced to 18 months
By ZACK McDONALD
PANAMA CITY — An operator of a Youngstown “puppy mill” has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to court records.
Lindsay Renee Tyus, 34, pleaded no contest Friday to 14 felony counts of animal cruelty after investigators found several malnourished Great Danes and two dead puppies at her Youngstown home. She was arrested in February and the recovered dogs sent to a Panhandle Great Dane shelter for treatment. Tyus also faced drug-related charges, for which she also pleaded no contest.
Tyus’ husband has been named in connection with the case, but he has not been arrested in Bay County on charges related to the incident. He remains in custody in South Florida in an unrelated case.
Bay County Animal Control removed 15 Great Danes in February from the Troy Road property that were in “distress” and alerted BCSO to the residence. Numerous dogs were in outdoor kennels that appeared to have not been fed or cared for properly, BCSO reported.
Deputies found kennels inside the home of Lindsay and Mark Tyus, 38, which had been reported as a “puppy mill,” officers said. Inside, the deputies found feces on the floor and moldy food in the bowls. One kennel contained the bodies of two lifeless Great Dane puppies.
“The Great Danes were extremely thin to the point you could see their ribs and tailbones,” officers reported.
Several of the Great Danes seized from Sanders’ home were taken to the Northwest Florida Great Dane Rescue, where they were dubbed the “Bay County 13.”
Water dishes within the pens allegedly were dirty, with green algae lining the insides. The officers also reported seeing “several pens without dogs in them” where they “observed bones (skulls) inside of them which appeared to have K-9 teeth.”
Lindsay Tyus was not inside the home when officers attempted to contact her, but they were able to reach her by phone. BCSO said she admitted staying there with Mark Tyus before leaving a man named “Red” in charge of caring for the dogs.
Lindsay Tyus said she “went on a honeymoon and left a man they knew as ‘Red’ on the property,” BCSO reported. “They had met him in a bar in mid-December. He needed a place to stay and they needed a caretaker for the dogs while they were gone.”
However, the neighbors said they had only seen the couple at the residence.
Lindsay and Mark Tyus were arrested in Hillsborough County on unrelated charges, including possession of a controlled substance. Lindsay Tyus was released before BCSO issued a warrant for the couple’s arrest, but Mark Tyus remained in jail. BCSO officials said they are waiting for his release from custody to extradite Mark Tyus to Bay County.
Lindsay Tyus posted bond but was later arrested in a Days Inn motel in the process of injecting liquid alprazolam into a toe vein. She had been sought for questioning in connection with a multistate theft ring. Lindsay Tyus also pleaded no contest Friday to possession of amphetamine and paraphernalia.