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Case ID: 18720
Classification: Hoarding
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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Dogs seized, some dead
Gastonia, NC (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Oct 10, 2011
County: Gaston

Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available

Alleged: Wesley Scott Ghantt

Angie Ghantt knew her brother-in-law kept a large number of dogs in kennels behind the vacant house next-door.

But she was concerned about how well the animals were being cared for.

On Monday, Ghantt's husband, Bobby, strolled over to have a look, and made a gruesome discovery.

"He went back there to check on them and found two of them dead, and one of them was almost dead," she said. "We all knew dogs was down there, but we didn't know how many."

The land next-door to Angie Ghantt at 3712 Mitchem Road, just off Spencer Mountain Road near Ranlo, was being combed by Gaston County Animal Control officers Thursday. As Doberman Pinschers bound by chains on the front lawn barked at passersby, a Gaston County police officer drove up at 5:30 p.m. and handed a search warrant for the home to fellow officers.

Investigators on the scene referred all questions to Animal Control administrator Reggie Horton, who said Friday he could not yet comment on the investigation.

"We've still got a lot of pieces of the puzzle we're putting together," he said. "Charges are a distinct possibility with regard to this, but as far as when the investigation will be completed, I don't know how long that's going to take.

"Suffice it to say, we're treating this as a very serious matter."

A growing kennel

The registered owner of the home at 3712 Mitchem Road is Shirley Brown Ghantt. Her adopted son, Wesley Scott Ghantt, kept a large number of dogs on the wooded land behind it, even after his mother stopped living there recently, Angie Ghantt said.

"He's always getting all kinds of dogs," she said. "But you know, this is country. I always felt like he had a right to have his dogs."

Wesley Ghantt is an avid hunter, and the animals he kept there were initially for the purpose of the sport, Angie Ghantt said. But he gradually began picking up more and more animals.

"A lot of the ones he's got now are not hunting dogs," she said.

In addition to the two chained Dobermans in the front yard Thursday, a beagle mix paraded around the property. Several other small dogs were visible inside a chain link pen. The sounds of barking, baying and howling echoed from behind the home.

The kennels in the back are in an overgrown area that makes it impossible to see them from Angie Ghantt's side yard. Knowing how many dogs are back there or their condition isn't possible without walking all the way back there.

Angie Ghantt said she was under the impression that her brother-in-law was coming to feed and provide water for the animals regularly. But they acknowledged they have been a nuisance for neighbors in recent months.

Ronnie Burnett, who lives two doors down, said he was walking up the road with his two teenage sons a couple of months ago, when they realized one of the Dobermans had gotten loose. Burnett was carrying a stick and used it to fend off the aggressive animal in the middle of the street.

"It was snapping at the end of (the stick)," he said. "Once we got on up the road, he went away and left us alone."

Burnett said he called and filed a complaint with Animal Control, though he doesn't know what ever came of it.

Anger and disbelief

Angie Ghantt said when and her husband began to suspect Wesley Ghantt hadn't been to check on the dogs in some time, she urged him to do it himself. After the found the dead dogs, they did the only thing they knew to do in calling Animal Control.

"We don't know how to get a hold of Wes," she said.

Animal Control officers and police had been back on a regular basis since Monday, she said. They took away the dog that was near death and the dead animals, and snapped pictures of the scene, she said.

"(Police) told me they want to make sure they have their ducks in a row," she said of the investigation.

Angie Ghantt said she has been upset about what they discovered, and expressed anger with her brother-in-law for being so irresponsible. She said she had seen him driving up and down Mitchem Road a couple of times Thursday, peering over at the police activity on his mother's property.

"Now we feel bad that some of (the dogs) are dead," she said.

Burnett said he is also a hunter and has always owned hunting dogs. But he said he knows enough to treat them right.

"It would be OK if he took care of them," he said. "But to put them in a pen and not feed them or give them water, that's horrible."

References

  • « NC State Animal Cruelty Map
    « More cases in Gaston County, NC

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