Pit bull dispute leads to charges against dogs’ owner

CLEVELAND — A dispute between former next-door neighbors here over pit bulls has resulted in the dogs’ owner pleading guilty to communicating threats.

Ashley Farmer of Depot Street entered the plea in Rowan County District Court on Sept. 28, receiving a 10-day sentence, suspended for 12 months with unsupervised probation. She was ordered to not assault, threaten or harass her next-door neighbor, Cyndi Allison Wittum or her family, and to stay off Wittum’s property.

Farmer was also ordered to pay court costs, including the $250 fee for a court-appointed attorney.

Wittum said Farmer made the threats after she called Rowan Animal Control and complained to the Cleveland Town Board about the pit bulls. She said at the meeting that Farmer had at least five adult pit bulls and four to six puppies.

Two of the dogs were chained at the property line dividing the two lots, she told the board, preventing her children from playing basketball, causing her mother to be fearful getting in and out of her car and making it difficult for her now-deceased father to mow the lawn near the line because the dogs would “go crazy” barking and growling.

Farmer responded to the allegations in a subsequent Salisbury Post article, saying the dogs were friendly and had never bitten or snapped at anyone.

Problems between the two neighbors began to escalate after that.

When Farmer began threatening Wittum on June 26, Wittum said she went back in her house without responding and later filed charges with the Rowan County Magistrate’s Office. “I was just following the procedures as I was told,” she said.

Farmer moved to Iredell County the following week.

In August, an order was issued in Rowan Civil Court prohibiting Farmer from having any contact with Wittum and her family for a year.

Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249 or kchaffin@salisburypost.com.