23 Pit Bulls Chained in Squalid Yard
Dogs Were Apparently Being Trained as Fighters
Jan. 7, 2000
By Todd Venezia
MABLETON, Ga. (APBnews.com) -- Animal control officers here have uncovered what they are calling one of the worst cases of animal abuse in years -- a home where nearly two dozen half-starved, emaciated pit bulls were found living in their own waste.
Officials said the dogs were found chained to posts Tuesday without food or water in the back yard of a house. Most of the dogs were starving, physically abused and suffering from apparent dog-fighting wounds and easily treatable diseases like heartworms.
"We've never had cruelty of this number in years," said Debra Cook, manager of Cobb County Animal Control. "It was sad to see them. There were some that were so timid that when you go up to them, they just cowered."
Police have now issued arrest warrants for three men allegedly involved in keeping the dogs in squalor: Harry Shannon Butler, Kennedy Wayne Ogletree and Heijai Watkins. None of the suspects had been arrested by late today.
They each face 23 counts of animal cruelty, a misdemeanor in Georgia.
Surprise inspection finds squalor
Cook said the animal officers had gotten to know the men after they were first called to the home by neighbors at the beginning of December. She said that at the time, officers had concerns for the dogs, but there were fewer then, none were apparently abused and the men promised to remove them soon.
But on Tuesday, Cobb County authorities staged a surprise inspection of the home and stumbled upon a scene that had grossly deteriorated since the original visit.
The 23 pit bulls, several of them puppies, were sheltered by plastic drums turned on their sides. Numerous puppies were stuffed in cages. All the animals were living in their own feces.
There was no food in the yard, but there was a dangling rope that may have been used to train the dogs to be aggressive and to lock onto objects with their powerful jaws. Cook said the three men were not home.
Some may be euthanized
Cook said she and other animal officers are upset that the penalty for keeping dogs in such poor condition will be what she believes is a slap on the wrist.
"It's a shame because this is a misdemeanor, and the highest penalty is $1,000," she said. "It should be a lot more than that."
She said that a bill now before the state legislature would make extreme cases of cruelty a felony, a measure her office strongly supports.
As for the dogs, they are now being cared for at the county animal control headquarters. She said that officers will try to find homes for the dogs once the case is adjudicated. She thinks that most of the dogs will find homes, especially with all the interest the case has received in the local press.
However, she admits that not all the dogs will find homes, especially those that have been made too timid by abuse to be adopted. Those dogs will have be put down.
"That's a fact of life in the animal control business," Cook said.
Todd Venezia is an APBnews.com staff writer (todd.venezia@apbnews.com). |
