| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
Dog fighting - 12 dogs - (Lillington, NC - US) Crime Date:
04/16/2003 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Case Report
Marcus McNeill, 32, of Mamie Upchurch Road, between Lillington
and Buies
Creek was charged with 14 counts of misdemeanor cruelty to
animals and 13
misdemeanor counts of restraining dogs in a cruel manner
Wednesday April
16, 2003.
Animal control officers had found 12 severely malnourished dogs
in his back
yard - 11 pit bull terriers and a Belgian Malinois, with another
pit bull
found deceased. The dogs were found tethered with what animal
control
officers described as log chains, with links 5 inches long and
about an
inch in diameter, used to strengthen dogs' necks for fighting,
according to
Mr. Medina. The chains weighed as much as the dogs they were
restraining,
all of which where at least 20 pounds underweight, Mr. Medina
said.
The animals are at the Harnett County Animal Shelter. All are
sick and
underweight, and the female pit bull pictured on page one of
Friday's Daily
Record died over the weekend. "She rolled up in a ball to go to
sleep, and
never got up," said Animal Control Supervisor Tino Medina.
Mr. McNeill's bond was set at $3,000 and the case was scheduled
to be heard
in District Court Monday, but was continued at the request of
the
defendant's attorney.
"The case was continued, over the state's objection," said
assistant DA
Resson Faircloth, who will prosecute the case. Mr. Faircloth
said Mr.
McNeill's attorney, Vernon Stewart of Dunn, asked for the case
to be
continued to give him more time to prepare his case.
Judge Jacqueline Lee granted his request and the case was set
for trial May
21. Later in the day, the trial was rescheduled for May 28
because the
veterinarian who was to testify for the state was unavailable on
the
original date.
Meanwhile, the surviving dogs are suffering and taking up 11 of
the 16 runs
at the shelter. With two other dogs quarantined for biting, the
county has
only three runs available.
"We brought to the judge's attention that the dogs were dying
while they
were waiting," Mr. Medina said in his opposition to the new May
date. "If I
had to say, I'd say two more would not make it."
Mr. Medina said the dogs' condition makes the shelter currently
unsafe for
other dogs to be brought in. Incoming canines are being
redirected to other
shelters, while anyone dropping off a stray has to sign a
release form,
allowing the shelter to euthanize the dog within 24 hours. All
adoptions
from the shelter have been suspended.
"It's not safe," Mr. Medina said. "Some of them are starting to
cough, and
it could be kennel cough or it could be the kind of worm that
comes out of
their mouths."
He said staff members are wearing masks to clean the pens, since
the dogs
may have infections which can be passed to humans. One of these
is
brucellosis, a disease caused by bacteria usually spread among
animals that
can also affect humans, causing flu-like symptoms and
potentially severe
infections of the central nervous system.
He said the dogs were "massively scarred" and appeared to have
been used
for fighting. Mr. Medina said last week given their condition,
euthanasia
was "probably the most humane thing" for the pit bulls, but the
issue is
now more complicated.
"With disease and bacteria it's really hard to pin down when a
dog needs to
be euthanized," Mr. Medina admitted. "If it's an injury, like a
broken leg,
or a wound, our officers are trained to know."
Also, because the dogs are now part of a criminal proceeding,
Mr. Medina
said officers would have to seek permission before euthanizing
the dogs and
the deceased dog's body must be kept in their freezer until the
trial.
"They're part of an evidence chain," Mr. Medina said of the
dogs. "It would
be difficult, because we'd have to go before a judge."
Mr. Medina wrote a letter to Assistant County Manager Tony
Wilder Monday,
explaining the hardship the continuance of this case has brought
upon his
department and said state law allows officers to euthanize
animals
"immediately or at such an appropriate time as determined by the
supervisor
or department head." Mr. Medina said in the letter he felt this
case
qualifies.
"It really is sad that one case can really put us in this type
of
situation," the letter said.
Mr. Medina said in 90 percent of cases, judges order dogs like
this
destroyed because they cannot be adopted out, given their
training and
involvement in fighting. In their current condition however,
what might
otherwise be considered a stay of execution serves instead to
prolong the
suffering of a dwindling pack of dogs and to keep the county's
animal
control department in a bind.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|