Dog-fighting - 13 dogs seized
Rock Hill, SC (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Feb 20, 2010
County: York
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available
Alleged:
» Anthoni Orr - Convicted
» Deon Burris - Acquitted
» George Burris
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
A York County man convicted of dogfighting 10 years ago is charged with the same crime again.
Anthoni Orr, 39, was charged along with 29-year-old Deon Burris and 74-year-old George Burris.
Orr was arrested on a charge of animal fighting in 1999 and was given two years probation.
On Saturday, neighbors called 911 after getting suspicious about heavy traffic on rural McConnells Highway. The area is more than 15 miles west of Rock Hill.
When deputies arrived, they went into the woods and said they found a dogfighting arena.
“They had a makeshift ring, fighting ring and lights were strung up in the trees for illumination," said Sheriff's Detective Mike Baker.
Officers said they saw a lot of blood inside the carpeted ring, as well as in buckets. They also found dogfighting paraphernalia.
“They had what you call a paddle that is actually used to pry the dog's mouths open once they lock on [to other dogs],” Baker said.
The three men were arrested and 13 pit bulls were signed over to animal control. The dogs had no life-threatening injuries, but all of them had scars and cuts from past fights on their paws, legs, backs and faces.
Animal Control Director Chris Peninger said now that the dogs are evidence in a criminal case, the animal shelter must house them for an undetermined amount of time. Since the animals are considered dangerous, they must be housed separately from other animals.
“We do know that they're aggressive toward other animals, which is why they have to be kept in separate cages like that,” he said.
All three suspects were listed at the same address in McConnells.
Most family members didn't want to speak to Eyewitness News. One woman who claimed to be a relative of George Burris said she didn't know anything about dogfighting and that Burris wouldn't be involved in anything like that.
Under state law, fighting dogs are not allowed to be put up for adoption and are usually euthanized. However, members of an animal rescue group are expected to visit the York County Animal Shelter this week to ask if they can take some of the dogs.
Peninger said they'll have to determine if any of them are safe enough to release from the shelter.
Case UpdatesA York County man charged with dog fighting was acquitted by a jury Tuesday afternoon.
Deon Burris, 30, was arrested in February 2010 and charged with animal fighting and baiting. His brother, Anthoni Orr, and father, George Burris, were also charged.
Sheriff's deputies were called to the family's property on Feb. 20 when a neighbor called in an anonymous tip that dog fighting was going on in the woods off McConnells Highway.
When York County sheriff's deputies arrived, they found 13 pit bulls tied with heavy logging chains and staked to the ground. Several of the dogs showed injuries consistent with dog fighting, deputies said. One had a bloody face and another had older wounds on its front and back legs, they said.
Several hundred yards behind the house, deputies followed a path that led to a wooden fighting pit. There were lights strung up around the pit, buckets full of water and blood and the pit itself was covered in blood.
Burris admitted to owning 10 of the 13 dogs and willingly signed them over into the care of Animal Control.
Last month, a jury found Anthoni Orr guilty of owning a dog for the purpose of fighting. He was sentenced to the maximum of five years in prison. However, on Tuesday, the jury in the case of Deon Burris found him not guilty after less than an hour of deliberations.
Prosecutors showed the jury pictures of the chained dogs, the fighting pit, and the path from the Burris home directly to the pit.
However, the defense lawyer countered that there was no direct evidence tying Deon Burris to dog fighting.
Prosecutors told Eyewitness News that no decisions have been made in the pending case against the third suspect, George Burris.
Eyewitness News checked with Animal Control on Tuesday about the dogs seized from the property. Two of the pit bulls that were not fighting dogs were taken by an animal rescue group in Charleston.
The other 11 were too vicious to be pets. Animal Control officers said they would have killed any other dog they came in contact with, so they were all put down. | Source: wsoc.com - Apr 20, 2011
Update posted on Apr 20, 2011 - 6:02PM |
One of three McConnells men charged with dogfighting after a makeshift ring was found in the woods has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Anthoni Latorando Orr, 40, was convicted of possession of a dog for the purpose of fighting after a one-day trial in York County on Wednesday, Assistant 16th Circuit Solicitor Dan Hall said.
Judge John Hayes sentenced Orr to the maximum five years in prison, Hall said.
This is the second time Orr has been convicted of charges related to animal fighting in York County.
Deputies with the York County Sheriff's Office found the dogfighting pit, with temporary lights in the trees and buckets of blood near the wood pit, in February 2010. About 100 feet from the pit, officers found a pack of 13 pit bulls confined with apparent scars on their bodies.
Orr was one of three men arrested after deputies found that ring behind the men's home on West McConnells Highway.
George Burris, 75, and Deon Burris, 30, still await prosecution for similar charges in connection with this case.
A tip from a neighbor led to the discovery of the animals and the pit. The pit bulls weren't badly injured but showed signs of being hurt in fights. The animals' living conditions did not meet county standards.
County animal control officials confiscated and treated the animals. Most of the dogs were put down shortly after their discovery for humane reasons. State law prohibited animal control from releasing a "dangerous animal" for adoption .
Only two of the 13 dogs were released to a rescue to be adopted.
In 2000, Orr was convicted of animal fighting and ill treatment of animals and sentenced to probation, according to a State Law Enforcement Division background check.
Those charges stem from an investigation in 1997 where sheriff's deputies searched Orr's barn on West McConnells Highway and seized several wooden stakes used to separate dogs during a fight. | Source: heraldonline.com - Mar 3, 2011
Update posted on Mar 3, 2011 - 5:43PM |
Most of the pit bulls police linked to an alleged dog-fighting ring in McConnells have been put down.
Eleven of the 13 dogs deputies found in February near a pit used to fight dogs have been euthanized for humane reasons, said Dr. Sonya McCathey, a veterinarian with York County Animal Control.
The other two dogs were released to a rescue group, she said.
McCathey said state law prohibits animal control from releasing a “dangerous animal” for adoption. A dog is deemed aggressive it has the tendency to attack unproved, part of the statute reads.
The dogs also were in poor medical condition.
Three McConnells men face felony dog-fighting charges after authorities say they found the fighting ring and the dogs behind their home on West McConnells Highway. The men signed over the dogs to animal control.
Anthoni Orr, 39, George Burris, 74, and Deon Burris, 29, are each charged with animal fighting and baiting. All were listed on sheriff's reports as living at 1350 W. McConnells Highway.
All three men have been released from jail on bond.
A tip from a neighbor who saw a lot of traffic in the area led police to discover the temporary dog fighting pit, deputies said. The temporary pit has been destroyed so officials can’t use it again.
The decision to release two dogs to a rescue group was made by the county manager’s office, McCathey said. | Source: Herald Online - Mar 4, 2010
Update posted on Mar 8, 2010 - 3:40PM |
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