Neglected pit bulls seized - fighting suspected Deerfield Beach, FL (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, Apr 30, 2003 County: Broward Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Charges: Misdemeanor Alleged: » Alex Eugene Benefield » Darryl McKinney

Case ID: 12020 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment, Fighting Animal: dog (pit-bull) View more cases in FL (US) Drugs or alcohol involved Login to Watch this Case

According to reports, in May 2003, Broward Sheriff�s Office Detective Mike Vadnal responded to a decrepit wooden house in Deerfield Beach on a tip that pit bulls are were kept by a suspected drug dealer and dogfighter.

Alex Benefield was previously arrested for animal cruelty-related charges in 1999, and reportedly had a pit bull seized from him at a major Fort Lauderdale dog-fighting event in 1997, but was never convicted of these charges.

In the 2003 incident, a black pit bull puppy was found in a cramped mini-doghouse. Inside a kennel box, a female dog was found sagging in front of an empty water bowl in her own feces; another black dog was reportedly chained to a fence without any shade or water. Officers also located a brown-and-white pit bull with a faced scarred by puncture wounds.

An officer surveying the scene, reportedly stated �This makes me sick.�

�They�re stuck there without water in the heat,� he said. �If I leave that one dog in the corner, he�d be dead. He was already burying himself in the sand to keep his body cool.�

Officers believed that the house was used for crack distribution. Despite police claims that Benefield was also linked to another reported crack house, no charges have been filed against him.

According to a relative of the home owner, a tenant named Darryl McKinney was supposed to take care of the dogs, and their owner reportedly was living in Sarasota.

While officers were still on the scene, Benefield returned to the property.

According to reports, he claimed ownership of two of the dogs. �I had my dogs here,� he says, �but I�m not involved.�

The next day, Officers returned to the property to meet with McKinney and served him a summons to appear in court to answer charges of animal cruelty.

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References

City Link Magazine - June 4, 2003

« FL State Animal Cruelty Map

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