At least seven pit bulls found dead
Arlington, TX (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Dec 8, 2007
County: Tarrant
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Christopher J. Clark
It wasn't unusual for residents to hear or see a pack of pit bulls roaming the yard of the small brick home in east Arlington.
But after the dogs' owner moved out, a man living next door noticed a bad smell coming from the Timberview Lane property and called the city.
"I looked over the fence and saw a dead dog," said next-door neighbor Fernando West, who added that he hadn't seen the dogs' owner since October. "It looked like it had been there a week or so."
West called 911 on Dec. 8, and Arlington police and animal services officers discovered a sickening scene at 719 E. Timberview Lane. At least seven pit bulls -- including three puppies -- were dead in the back yard, said Alan Pierce, Animal Services field operations supervisor. Two adult dogs' bodies were still chained up. A dog's skull and a bag containing another dog's skeleton were found at the property, Pierce said.
Five live pit bulls were found; none had food or water, Pierce said. Two were chained to trees. The other three were found in separate rooms inside the house, he said. One female dog was so emaciated she could not walk on her own.
Officials also found evidence that the dogs were being raised to fight, including syringes, protein powder, vitamins and metal weights on chains, which are typically attached to dogs to help build up their muscle mass, said police spokesman Lt. Blake Miller.
Police do not believe that dogfights were held at the home, Miller said.
Police arrested Christopher J. Clark, 24, late Wednesday, Miller said.
Neighbors identified him as the man who had lived at the rental home, and police obtained 11 arrest warrants earlier Wednesday on suspicion of animal cruelty.
Miller said in an e-mail that Clark, who is on probation for marijuana possession, was taken into custody without incident. Bail was set at $7,500 on three counts of animal cruelty, but was expected to be increased when paperwork was finished, jail officials said late Wednesday.
Animal cruelty is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
The five dogs taken to the Arlington animal shelter will either be turned over to rescue groups or euthanized, animal services officials said.
Clark moved into the house more than a year ago with eight or nine dogs, which looked healthy at the time, West said. At first, Clark didn't have the dogs chained or separated in the back yard, West said.
"I'd come home from work and hear them fighting," said West, 48. "They barked all night and all day."
About six months ago, West started to notice the dogs' condition deteriorating when Clark would chain one to a tree in the front yard.
"To sit there and let them starve like that. ..." West said, "He should go to jail."
West said he filed a noise complaint with animal services over the summer.
This month, he sat on his front porch with a friend and watched as officials carried out the dead and starving dogs.
Another neighbor of Clark's, Maime Zamarripa, has lived in the neighborhood since 1986 and also said the dogs kept her up at night.
Zamarripa said that she didn't know how many people had lived in the home but that she occasionally saw people, including families, coming and going from the property. Sometimes two or three dogs would be tied up or running loose in the front yard -- worrying Zamarripa when her niece's children came to visit.
"I was afraid they might be loose and might attack," she said.
Ha Tran, who has lived in the neighborhood about three years, said the dogs often cried. She didn't complain, she said, because she was afraid the dogs would be taken away and put to sleep.
Police said the owner of the house, listed in county tax records as Stephen Sims, told them he did not know about the dogs or the conditions at his rental property.
Two cars sat in the driveway Wednesday. A white Dodge Intrepid's window was partially open, with leaves on the seat.
A sign reading "Beware of Dog" was posted in a window facing the street.
Animal Cruelty is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and up to a $4,000 fine. References« TX State Animal Cruelty Map
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