Couple enters plea agreement in animal abuse case

CARROLL COUNTY, Tenn. — More than 150 animals were seized from Tara Neutzler and Donald Schoenthal’s Atwood home in April of 2018. This month, another 40 were seized from a property in Middle Tennessee.

Tara Neutzler and Donald Schoenthal are seen during a September 2018 court appearance.

The couple entered into a plea agreement Wednesday to charges of aggravated animal cruelty and animal cruelty.

Both will be banned from owning or possessing animals for 10 years. They were also ordered to surrender their animals from Carroll County and Putnam County.

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News reached out to the attorney representing Schoenthal and Neutzler for comment. They had not gotten back to us at the time of this story.

Some of the 150 animals taken from the Atwood home last April have been in the care of Lori Collins at Redemption Road Rescue, others with Animal Rescue Corps in Middle Tennessee.

Since Neutzler and Schoenthal have entered into a plea agreement, the animals will be available for adoption soon.

We’ll have more on this story on WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News at 6.