By Yolanda Rodriguez
Atlanta-Journal Constitution Staff Writer

Andy Sharp / AJC Due West Animal Clinic office manager Rae Eddens cuddles a 6-week-old pit bull she calls Angel.

At about six weeks of age, Angel is a warm, soft pit bull puppy.

But unlike most puppies, she can barely walk. Until Tuesday night, the dog had spent her life confined to a box, in what officials describe as one of the worst cases of animal cruelty they have ever seen in Cobb County. She is one of 23 pit bulls that were seized from a Mableton home by Cobb police and animal control officers.

Police have issued arrest warrants for three men: Harry Shannon Butler, Kennedy Wayne Ogletree and Heijai Watkins. Each has been charged with 23 counts of animal cruelty, a misdemeanor. None has been arrested.

She is one of 23 pit bulls that were seized from a Mableton home by Cobb police and animal control officers.

Police have issued arrest warrants for three men: Harry Shannon Butler, Kennedy Wayne Ogletree and Heijai Watkins. Each has been charged with 23 counts of animal cruelty, a misdemeanor. None has been arrested.

There is a movement in the state Legislature this year to make animal cruelty a felony.

Andy Sharp / AJC Bo is one of four abused pit bull pups treated at a Cobb County clinic and among the 23 seized this week.

Investigators are not sure if the animals were being bred to fight or if the house at 307 Hill Top Circle was a puppy mill, said Debra Cook, the manager of the county's animal control center.

In the yard, they found a dangling rope they believe was used to train the dogs to bite and lock onto an object. Three of the females were pregnant.

One thing is clear - the animals were living in deplorable conditions. Most were kept chained to a pole in the back yard of the house; others were chained in a barn, and a few were in cages. There was little food and water.

The only shelter that some of the animals had were empty 55-gallon drums that had been turned on their side, Cook said. But the many cuts on the animals' ears, heads and legs tell the same story to Dr. Richard Best, who examined all of them.

"They were being bred to fight," said Best, who is still treating four of them, including Angel.

Andy Sharp / AJC Frightened, Bo cowers in the corner of a cage at Due West Animal Clinic.

The dogs were living in their own feces and eating leaves and sticks, Best said.

The animals were "emaciated, dehydrated, very frightened of any human presence," he said. "Just the worst case of starvation I've ever seen," Best said. They had multiple bite wounds and bacterial infections. Some had been beaten so often they cowered in the corner of their new habitat.

Some may never be able to be adopted because they have been trained to be so aggressive, Best said. But others "are just terrified because of they way they've been treated."

For the past year, the house and the three men have been the focus of attention of animal control officers after neighbors complained of barking and the stench of animal waste.

Last March, Butler was charged with several nuisance counts because of the barking dogs. He pleaded guilty and paid a fine, Cook said. But when animal control officers went to the house late Tuesday, there was enough evidence to seize the dogs. "The grounds were covered with feces and urine," said Cindy Franklin, assistant manager of the animal control clinic. "The dogs were going around and around in circles on their little chains. It was just total deprivation."