Posted on 10/31/2010 6:20:05 PM PDT by BCW
bro - 37 year old Ponce De Leon Man, Ronald Williams, has been arrested by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Chipley on 37 counts of felony animal cruelty in what the sheriff says is one of the most disturbing cases to cruelty to animals the department has ever investigated.
The Story:
Just one week ago the Shamrock Greyhounds welcomed 4 new dogs from the Florida panhandle. They came to us from the tracks at Pensacola & Ebro at Panama City.
This morning I received an email with disturbing information.
http://www.wjhg.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5245859&flvUri&partnerclipid
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/33_Greyhounds_Found_Dead_at_Ebro_4_Others_near_death_106390723.html
The initial report was 20 Greyhounds found dead. As of this afternoon the number had jumped to 37.
I called our friend Ann Bollens in Pensacola to see what was going on. She is the President of GPA-Emerald Coast. She works with both tracks & has been coordinating the seasonal track closings of both. Ebro closed about a month ago & today is the last day of racing in Pensacola. Both tracks will reopen next year.
Here is what she told me (well my interpretation anyway)...
Last week they received 8 dogs from this trainer for adoption. They had been told 10 dogs were coming, but only 8 were sent. Six of the dogs were thin, but what we would describe as "track thin." The other 2 were "very thin." Concerned about the dogs condition she contacted the National Greyhound Assn & the state inspectors. She suggested they take a look at the kennel the dogs came from.
Since Ebro closed, the kennels have received donated dog food to help care for the dogs waiting for adoption. This particular trainer had received food to feed his dogs.
The state inspector arrived Friday evening & had the kennel building opened. He took about 5 steps in & had to exit due to stench. He called the police & track officials to come to the scene. What they found is beyond horrifying. Thirty seven Greyhounds were found starved to death in their kennels. Five dogs were still alive. Four of them are expected to recover, but will be held as evidence. The other dog is at a vet clinic in critical condition as of this afternoon. They are not sure if this red boy will make it.
The trainer has been arrested & charged with 37 counts of felony animal cruelty.
While I was talking to Ann she received a message from the one remaining trainer at Ebro. This trainer has been put in charge of caring for all the remaining adoption dogs at the track. She confirmed that several of the hounds in the offending kennel had vet tape wrapped around their neck so tight that their necks were swollen. Why the trainer did this is unknown. Speculation says it was another way to torture the hounds as it was so tight it made it difficult to swallow. Remember Greyhounds don't have a lot of padding on their necks.
I asked if we knew when he quit feeding the dogs. She said one of the dogs they got Monday had raced just before Ebro closed. That dog was 15lb under his registered race weight. That is a significant weight loss for 30 days.
Help is still needed in the Panhandle. I know you all tire of hearing about foster homes needed, but there are seriously dogs in need there. These are Greyhounds - just like the one(s) sharing your home today. I asked Ann for some numbers. Ebro has approximately 50 hounds still waiting for adoption groups. Pensacola is unknown since they are still racing tonight. We will have a better feel in a few days, but the guess is at least 100 additional dogs in need of adoption groups.
These volunteers have worked tirelessly to try to save every dog from the seasonal closings. Sadly - they didn't achieve it this year. We will gladly bring in more hounds if we have foster homes to care for them. Many colors & both sexes are still available. Remember as a foster we pay 75c a day to help offset food costs (paid quarterly) and will provide a crate/supplies if needed. We pay for all medical care.
The holidays are approaching. What better way to celebrate than by helping a Greyhound in need.
Please let us know if you would like to consider helping. We also welcome any & all donations to help offset the cost of the rescues we have received already & hopefully the additional hounds we are trying to save.
Jennifer Watkins Shamrock Greyhound Placement 502-241-3140 www.greyhoundsofshamrock.org
This is such a terrible story. Dogs give the most unconditional love and affection, maybe more so than our “significant other.” My rescue dog is under the desk as I type. I just reached down and gave him a quick pet.
It takes a special kind of cruelty to purposefully starve to death a creature that depends on you for Food and shelter.
We have truely become a cruel society.
We’ve had two rescued greyhounds.
They are wonderful pets, great couch potatoes.
They love sleeping in bed with you, too :)
This is extremely sad.
I don’t think our Lord meant for man to torture animals.
I have sent this to all my guys I served with in Blackwater...it was the hounds that found the bombs that we could not...it was them that sacrificed along side of us...
That guy should be put in a cell and left to starve to death. I think that’s fair.
I’m not making excuses, but no normal person can do this sort of thing. What on earth is wrong with this person? BTW does the Greyhound ASSN do anything to them?
Thanks for adding the information on how to help these dogs, and all you do to help out. It helped take some of the edge off that sick pervert. I hope he is removed from society permanently.
Doubtful - since it continues to happen. If they did hand out harsh punishments - that should deter...since in this case it did not...I wouldn’t count on them to do anything...it’s about $$$
How cool, Blackwater contractors serving with active military police.........Were you actually using greyhounds or was "hounds" just a generic term for the dogs?
Which kinds of dogs did you find to be more successful in your missions?
That’s what I was thinking, but I thought maybe public pressure had forced them to have some sort of sanctions.
No, he gave them to us to be stewards over. Which means a vareity of things, but when they are pets, or are in our direct care, that means we have responsibilities and they depend on us.
Good thing is that all animals will come back again when God sets things right. They aren’t just born to live in a fallen world man caused, and that’s the best they’ll ever get. They didn’t cause this place to break, but they as part of creation have to endure it until it is restored. Their lives are not in vain and God will vindicate them, too.
There are people in this world who defy the term human being; much less compassionate human being.
Give me 5 seconds with this guy.
I will never understand how a dog can be starved to death. First of all, they will love you to pieces, but secondly, even if you have no love for them, they will eat ANYTHING. You drop anything on the floor and they will scoop it up. It’s not like you need dog food, they will take any scraps you have.
It takes a conscious effort to starve a dog. There is a special place in hell for people who do this.
As a teenager I worked as dog walker at Sarasota kennel Club ( Dog Track). This is the rule, its the world nobody wants to know about. A non racing greyhound has to be put down, its cost to maintain the dog. I am shocked this kinda of story has taken decades to come out.
Breaks my heart. I lost my beloved dog this past August. I’m waiting for the new year to find another “rescue” dog to love.
I think that's the way it used to be. These days there are greyhound rescue organizations that will take the non-racing dogs, foster them and put them up for adoption. This was a deliberate act by a trainer who might be in the mold of Michael Vick -- dogs are just commodities for their use, entertainment or profit.
The state in which I live has incredibly weak animal cruelty laws, yet is famous for its animals and most here claim to be “Christian”. What I don’t understand that crimes against living things are crimes against life itself, allowing it to go unpunished or to be weakly punished devalues life, and it is an extreme offense to the morals of the community. There really should be more outrage. And for those who just don’t care about animals, it is a fact that people who abuse animals are much more likely to abuse people, either now or in the future.
I would not have a problem with locking up people like this, hard time, and feeding them dog food and water - which is better than that they did for their dogs. And I don’t think that public humiliation is cruel or unusual, except that it is odd that we don’t do enough of it anymore, because it really does work well.
I know and that rule should be abolished. The world of racing be it horse; dog; etc. has more than I care to say a lot of undesirables. You are going to probably get more than your fare share of scum.
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