MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Blount County authorities have charged a Maryville man with aggravated animal cruelty after finding dead roosters in his yard.

The Daily Times quotes a statement from Blount County Sheriff's spokeswoman Marian O'Briant who said a landlord called a deputy to help him evict a tenant on Saturday and the officer found 17 dead roosters and more than a dozen birds which were alive.

The department arrested 29-year-old Christopher Lee Arden on Sunday on a warrant taken out by the local chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The newspaper reported Arden was free on $1,500 bond and was due in court Wednesday.

The SPCA is caring for the live roosters.

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Information from: The Daily Times, http://www.thedailytimes.com

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