not happy
Posted on 01/27/2006 4:50:45 PM PST by devane617
Nineteen of the 150 dogs found at a Polk County residence Thursday have been euthanized because they were too sick to recover.
The dog's owner, Hewitt Grant, 38, of 2335 Pump Road in Mulberry is charged with one felony count of maintaining and owning equipment and dogs for baiting or fighting, 19 felony counts of animal cruelty (due to the dogs who have had to be euthanized because of their poor conditions) and 54 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.
Polk County deputies said Grant was using cat mills on his property to train dogs to be aggressive. A cat mill is when a live animal, such as a cat, opossum or raccoon, is placed in a cage just out of reach of a chained dog. The practice teaches the dog to be aggressive as it strains to catch the caged animal.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd described how one dog was treated.
"This chain was around this pregnant dog's neck," Judd said. "And she was staked out. And for her to move at all, she had to drag this chain with her collar."
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd holds the chain a pregnant dog was attached to.
Detectives also said some dogs would chase other animals in a circle to train the dogs for endurance and aggression.
Because the dogs have been trained to be killers, most will have to be euthanized instead of put up for adoption. The puppies, if they do not yet show aggression toward other animals, may be adoptable.
"Dogs this age, the little puppies, maybe if we put them together and they don't show signs of aggression, then there would be a possibility [of adoption]," said veterinarian Dr. Joseph Ertel. "The dogs are basically friendly, but when you put them with another dog, all they know to do is to try to kill the other dog."
All the dogs have been taken to the Animal Control facility in Winter Haven and will be cared for and fed by Animal Control until a hearing determines who will gain custody of the animals.
Click on the image for a larger picture of one of the dogs. Any dogs determined to be fit for adoption will not be adopted out until after the custody hearing, which may not occur for several months.
Judd said his deputies will be looking for other cases of illegal dog training.
"We are going to come to your residence. We are going to come to your puppy mill," Judd said. "We are going to come to your dog-fighting mill and put you in jail and save these dogs."
not happy
BTTT
Disturbing and sad that people have to treat animals like that.
We go round and round about pit bulls on this forum, but there's one thing I don't ever want to be misunderstood about: I have nothing but sympathy for the pit bulls who are victimized by dog fighting. My heart breaks for every last one of them.
I studied to be a veterinary office assistant but I'm too much of a wienie...I just couldn't get beyond the first sentence of this article. Thanks for the ping, anyway...
:o[
This kind of thing just makes me sick. They showed a couple of the dogs on the news tonight (Orlando station), and one was a thin puppy, and the other was a very thin adult. I think the punishment should be the same thing done to the owner/trainer as was done to the dogs -- the bait dogs.
Gosh. Did you click on the pictures and get a look at those CHAINS?? They look like elephant restraints to me.
I agree whole-heartedly. Give him a dose of his own medicine. He deserves no less.
Yep. I like the "eye for an eye" rule. It is, IMHO the most just thing. The punishment fits the crime to a tee. However, mean soul that I am, I would really like some time alone with this bastard, in a room, with a baseball bat... and since I am only 5'2", having him chained down would be nice.
Back where I came from, years ago (many years ago) I once encountered a SOB treating his dog (pitbull) for the injuries the poor animal had sustained during a dog fight. When this bastard -who had one badly deformed hand- had the cojones to say "Good afternoon," to me, I blurted out: "I just hope one day one of those animals chews off your other hand so you can't wipe your ass anymore!" I was so furious and felt so impotent to do anything. Were I come from until a few years ago (and maybe even now) it is rather hard to report these activities.
This made me sick too.
My daughter has always loved animals and wanted to be a vet, but she, too is a weenie and couldn't think of having to euthanize. She's studying something else now.
I could handle the euthanasia, but not the cruelty. That was too hard for me. I had to give it up.
Oh, my lord! Kanawa, did you read the information at this link, also?? Hair, can you ping people to THIS???
http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/animal_fighting_the_final_round/jayz_and_other_artists_need_to_step_up_against_dogfighting.html?print=t
I'm so disgusted, I am physically sick!
There is one particularly horrifying scene in the video.
A losing dog, exhausted, laying on the ground, panting in pain from its injuries,
is connected to a battery by its "owner" and electrocuted.
Heart-rending to see. :~(
This dog owner would be elevated to a position of expert animal handler here in North Mississippi and would get the endorsement of the locals easily. This happens all of the time here and nothing, I repeat, nothing is done.
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