Chained dogs found starving to death - 3 seized Rock Hill, SC (US)Incident Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009 County: York
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: » Jontarivis Whitlock » Larry Brevard
One of two Rock Hill men wanted on animal abuse charges was arrested Wednesday [June 3, 2009] after police and the York County Animal Control found three pit bulls starving and tethered on short chains in a yard on Saluda Road last month, reports say.
Police have been looking for 24-year-old Jontarivis Whitlock and his friend, 20-year-old Larry Brevard, for two weeks. Whitlock was arrested at his house and booked Wednesday on two counts of ill treatment of animals and a rabies control violation.
Officers left a note on the door May 14 warning the owners to improve the living conditions of the dogs. Four days later they found all three dogs again malnourished and without food or water bowls in the back yard, according to reports from the York County Sheriff's Office.
Reports said two of the dogs were tethered with heavy chains that were tangled with other objects in the yard.
Neither of the dogs had proper shelter. The third dog was chained to a small enclosed shelter and had trouble sitting on the ground because of an injury. All three dogs' ribs were protruding through their skin, according to reports.
Another dog, a cocker spaniel in good health, also was in the yard with the pit bulls, reports said.
Whitlock told police he owned one of the three pit bulls but feeds them all. He fed all three dogs in front of police, but only gave them small amounts of food, which one of the dogs swallowed in only a few seconds, reports said. Police took photos of the dogs and continued to investigate.
Days later police took all three dogs and obtained a search warrant for both owners. One of the animals was starving, without food and tied to a 5-foot leash, according to reports.
Animal Control examined all three dogs and rated their body conditions a "1" on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being emaciation, 3 being ideal and 5 is severely obese). Animal Control told police the animals probably would need to be euthanized, report said. References |