Dog-fighting - 17 neglected dogs
Yalaha, FL (US)Incident Date: Monday, Jan 14, 2008
County: Lake
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Bruce Warren
» Nathaniel Yalaha
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A police dog named Hunter helped authorities track down a Yalaha man who was on the run and trying to escape dogfighting charges Saturday.
On Jan. 14, Lake County deputy sheriffs arrested Bruce Warren, 36, and his brother Nathaniel Warren, 30, on misdemeanor animal-cruelty charges after finding 17 malnourished and scarred pit bulls in their backyard. After finding evidence indicating that the two men had engaged in dogfighting, deputies upgraded the charges, but by that time Bruce Warren had posted bail.
On Saturday, Leesburg police officers responded to a report of a battery in progress near Montclair Road and Colonial Street. When they arrived, reports said, they discovered that the assailant was Bruce Warren.
Warren ran from the officers, who had a police dog with them, shouting, "Don't turn the dog loose on me," according to an arrest affidavit.
Officers used the police dog, Hunter, to track Warren to a wooded area. When Warren attempted to flee again, the officers let loose Hunter, who caught Warren and knocked him to the ground, according to the arrest affidavit.
Warren was taken to Leesburg Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for injuries he sustained during the chase. He was then taken to Lake County Jail, where he was held on $50,000 bond.
Case Updates11 scarred pit bulls, seized last month as combatants in a suspected Yalaha dog-fighting ring, won a temporary reprieve from a judge who had condemned them as dangerous animals unlikely to be retrained.
Circuit Judge Mark Hill issued the stays of execution after weighing concerns from Assistant Public Defender Vivionne Terrell, the lawyer representing cousins Bruce and Nathaniel Warren, who are charged with training the dogs for illegal sport.
Terrell filed the unusual motion, opposing a prosecutor's request to euthanize the dogs. She argued that putting the muscular canines to sleep would be the same as destroying evidence.
That claim has raised the state's fur.
Assistant State Attorney Christine Manno sought permission to euthanize the dogs at the urging of Lake County Animal Services Director Marjorie Boyd, who regards the animals as dangerous and unadoptable.
"We're not dog whisperers," Boyd said. "We can't rehabilitate them."
The dogs, each caged alone, lunge open-jawed at shelter staff and visitors who approach their pens, startling even Boyd with their aggression. She said the shelter veterinarian has refused to examine them.
Boyd also said the suspected fighters -- and nine other pit bulls taken from a neighboring home in Yalaha -- have occupied 20 of the shelter's 48 pens for about three weeks, causing a shortage of space for strays.
The space crunch has forced Boyd to shorten the length of time she holds abandoned animals.
Boyd said she sought the euthanasia order because of the dogs' demeanor, not their breed. Calmer dogs of the same breed are awaiting adoption at the shelter, which euthanized about 12,000 unwanted dogs last year.
Officials seized six docile pit-bull puppies during the search of the cousins' home, but they do not face the same fate as their elders. They share the same pen at the shelter and often nap, cuddling against one another.
Boyd said she thinks they can be retrained and can become "loving house pets."
But investigators say the death-row dogs were taught to fight fiercely, judging by the deep scars and healing wounds on their ears, faces, chests and paws. They were chained to a car, tree and body-building weights at the Warrens' home in Yalaha, where deputies also found an illustrated book called The History of Dog-Fighting and a periodical, Pit Bull Reporter.
The cousins contend the dogs do not belong to them.
No one else has stepped forward to claim the dogs.
Supervising Assistant State Attorney Walter Forgie bristled at the defense suggestion that prosecutors tried to "malign" the Warrens' due-process rights by disposing of animals housed at taxpayer expense.
The animals were photographed and their images preserved.
Forgie noted that prosecutors and investigators don't have the space to keep every piece of evidence confiscated in criminal investigations.
When the Warrens' lawyer sought a ruling from the 5th District Court of Appeal to halt the dogs' executions, Hill issued his own stay -- directing the Public Defender's Office to visit the shelter to inspect the animals.
"And if they want to go into the cages with the animals, I'll be more than happy to let them go in -- OK-- so they can determine for themselves whether or not the animals are dangerous," Hill said. "That should be interesting." | Source: Orlando Sentinel - Fab 7, 2008
Update posted on Feb 7, 2008 - 9:03AM |
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