Pit bull neglect - 17 seized, fighting suspected
Augusta, GA (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008
County: Richmond
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Kendrick Jennings
» Jennifer Ruhl
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Richmond County Animal Control charged two people for 17 counts of animal cruelty.
Tuesday, investigators charged Kendrick Jennings and Staff Sergeant Jennifer Ruhl after finding 17 pit bulls malnourished and living in unfit conditions at their home in South Augusta.
Animal control investigators say they saw all 17 pit bulls, forced to live in terrible conditions at a home on McNutt Road.
Trying to survive in their own filth wasn't the only thing these dogs endured. "Three had obvious wounds that appeared to be from very recent injuries," said Diane Downs, Director of Animal Control.
NBC Augusta is the only station to get pictures of the dogs the day investigators found them.
You can see injuries up and down the inside of a dog's leg. Investigators say some of the dogs even had bite marks on their head, neck, and legs. Bites, they say, are consistent with dog fighting.
Although they look healthy now, just days after being rescued, the director of animal control Diane Downs says many of the dogs picked up were malnourished.
"They weren't emaciated, but they were thin," said Downs.
Investigators also found the dogs living in cage as small as three by four feet. "On the initial look, many were in kennels that were too small for the number of animals," said Downs.
State law requires dogs to have a minimum living space of 10 by 10 or 100 square feet.
Jennings and Ruhl just posted bond Tuesday night. The dogs had bite marks consistent with dog fighting, but investigators want to stress, that as of right now, animal control investigators are treating this case as animal cruelty.
Because of the pit bulls aggressive behavior officials say the dogs will not be put up for adoption.
Case UpdatesRichmond County couple was jailed after hiding 12 malnourished dogs on their Burke County home site.
Kendrick Jennings, 33, and Jennifer Ruhl, 31, will face 35 charges apiece, including 17 for cruelty to animals, 17 for failure to provide inoculations and another for obstructing or hindering an animal control officer.
According to Bruce McClure, field supervisor for Augusta Animal Services, his agency began investigating the couple last month after receiving complaints from neighbors.
The initial investigation turned up 17 neglected pit bulls at their McNutt Road home in South Augusta but no owners.
McClure caught up with Jennings a few days later, but by then 13 of the dogs were missing.
"He wouldn't tell us where he moved them," McClure said.
But another tip soon pointed officers to Burke County where the couple is building a house.
In late February, a dozen of the missing dogs were found chained or caged across the couple's 31- acre parcel off Ben Hatcher Road.
"Most of them were chained up. They had no food, no water and only barrels for shelter," McClure said.
Some also had festering wounds consistent with dog bites, and all of them were significantly underweight and dehydrated.
Animal control officers could not locate one missing dog that had multiple wounds on its legs, head and neck when they saw it in Richmond County.
"The owners refused to disclose its location," McClure said. "They stated it fell off the back of the truck when they were moving the dogs, and they could not find it."
Both Jennings and Ruhl were arrested last Tuesday and released early the next morning.
McClure said all 70 charges stemmed from conditions at the couple's Richmond County home. Additional charges may be brought against them in Burke County, he said, but would be at the discretion of local deputies who assisted with the animal rescue. | Source: True Citizen - March 26, 2008
Update posted on Jun 8, 2008 - 7:05PM |
References« GA State Animal Cruelty Map
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