Animal Abuse: 5 dogs abandoned, 2 dead - Chandler, AZ | Pet-Abuse.Com Animal Cruelty Database

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Case ID: 17727

Classification: Neglect / Abandonment

Animal: dog (non pit-bull)

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5 dogs abandoned, 2 dead
Chandler, AZ (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Apr 1, 2011
County: Maricopa

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged:
» Karine Joy Hawley
» Buddie Ray Kent

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

A Chandler couple was arrested for animal cruelty - accused of neglecting their dogs.

Five dogs were abandoned and left in a filthy apartment for weeks by two people who were supposed to care for them.

Police say Buddie Ray Kent and Karine Hawley intentionally and knowingly neglected their dogs.

They apparently moved out of their apartment near Ray Road and Arizona Avenue and left the dogs behind in absolutely miserable conditions.

It was so bad inside the apartment that Sheriff's deputies had to wear bio-hazard protective gear.

Court records show the animals had been alone for a couple of weeks before neighbors called the Sheriff's office.

During that time, court records show two dogs died.

"It got to the point it was just nasty in there. I mean you couldn't even walk by it because it stunk," said Teresa Ortiz, a neighbor.

Two of the dogs died because they had no food and the other three began eating the carcasses of the dead dogs.

Police arrested Hawley and Kent on Thursday. They each face five felony counts of animal cruelty.

Case Updates

A Chandler judge has issued arrest warrants for a couple who left five pit bulls to die in a filthy apartment. The pair were charged with animal cruelty but failed to show up for their city court arraignment Oct. 26.

According to a police report Karine Hawley, 34, and Buddie Kent, 28, "intentionally and knowingly submitted their five dogs to cruelty and abandonment" that caused suffering and serious injury. Two died and there was evidence that surviving dogs were eating the carcasses.

The animals' plight was discovered in March when landlord Debra Gates, who owns the property near Arizona Avenue and Ray Road, obtained a court-ordered eviction against Hawley. But when San Marcos Justice Court Constable Kevin Jones went to serve the order and change the locks he was greeted by snarling pit bulls, trash, feces and the stench of death inside the house.

Jones said this week that he was so disturbed by what happened to the animals that he keeps a bag of dog food in his office in case he encounters a scene like that again.

At the time Jones said he slipped food and water in the door after he called Maricopa County Animal Care and Control and Chandler police. But neither agency would take the dogs because they were inside the rental and considered the tenant's property. Jones said he was told the agencies would respond if the animals were loose, but that he would be liable if he set them free and they hurt a person or another animal. "It was horrible, and our hands were tied."

Gates, the landlord, said she spent days calling animal rescue groups and private companies that advertise wildlife and dog removal, but all of them refused to take the pit bulls unless they were running loose.

She eventually rescued one emaciated female dog that was being attacked by the others and found an animal removal company that charged $350 to take two surviving dogs to Maricopa County Animal Care and Control.

Hawley and Kent were arrested in April when they showed up in Chandler court where Kent was scheduled for trial on misdemeanor property damage charges. In the months that followed, the Maricopa County Attorney's office twice declined to file felony animal cruelty charges. The city filed the charges last month but they were not made public until after the scheduled arraignment date.

The pair were charged for violating a state law that defines animal cruelty, in part, as knowingly or recklessly subjecting an animal to cruel neglect or abandonment and failing to provide medical attention to prevent protracted suffering.

Source: azcentral.com - Nov. 14, 2011
Update posted on Nov 14, 2011 - 7:00PM

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References

myfoxphoenix.com - Apr 15, 2011

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5 dogs abandoned, 2 deadChandler, AZ (US)

Case Updates

References

5 dogs abandoned, 2 dead
Chandler, AZ (US)