10 dead dogs found, fighting suspected
Tyler, TX (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007
County: Smith
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Three more dogs have been found dead along Lavender Road just inside Loop 323, and authorities have information connecting the animals to a dog-fighting group.
After finding one dog collar with an identification tag, officials believe some of the dogs may have been pets stolen from backyards around the county.
The problem became known last week when citizens began reporting finding dead dogs wrapped in black plastic garbage bags with remains rotting.
Smith County Precinct 1 Constable Henry Jackson said he buried three more dogs Wednesday afternoon.
To date, about 10 dogs have been discovered.
"We have buried all the dogs we have found at this point, but there could be more that we don't know about," Jackson told the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
Authorities believe the dogs were killed in fights with pit bulls.
"We have received some phone calls after people read the story in the newspaper and come forward with information about at least one person holding dog fights in the area," he said.
Jackson said he is working with Smith County Sheriff's detectives and Smith County Precinct 5 Constable Dennis Taylor to locate the suspects and shut down the dog-fighting operation.
"We are hoping to have the information we need in the next few days to find this ring and stop the fighting," he said. "We have some solid information and we will be conducting surveillance."
Jackson said one dog found at the location Wednesday was wearing a collar, and the animal appeared to have been from the south Tyler area.
"This could be countywide so that is why we are all working together," he said.
Taylor said he has received calls from many citizens stating their dogs were stolen out of their backyards.
"We have had quite a few calls since the story ran in the paper," he said. "We don't know how long this has been going on because some of the dead animals we found were pretty badly decomposed."
Case UpdatesInstinctively Smith County constables thought the dog remains found on Lavender Road in Smith County were related to dog fighting, because it's an activity known in that area.
That vicinity is also heavily populated with pitbulls.
But Precinct 1 Constable Henry Jackson said almost all the remains found were bones. So there was no flesh there to see if there were dog bites or other kind of evidence to show the animals were involved in violent activity, like dog fighting.
Jackson said the criminal activity that they may be dealing with here is illegal dumping.
"These dogs bones have been there for over six months to a year. I feel like somebody has been dumping the dogs along this road for a time... dogs that maybe wandered around, got hit, or people got tired of them and just threw them away," said Jackson.
KLTV 7 also got a first look at the tag found on one of the dogs. The gold tag hanging from a red collar was around the neck of the dog which was wrapped in a different color garbage bag.
Constable Jackson was able to trace the information and identify the owner. The owner's identity is not being released.
Constable Jackson is hoping that when they find the owner, he or she may have other information that can help them trace where these other dogs may have came from.
And hopefully answer why their dog was dumped in the creek where there were so many other dead animals. | Source: KLTV - Aug 31, 2007
Update posted on Sep 1, 2007 - 12:33AM |
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