Case Details

Hog-dog fighting
Tifton, GA (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Feb 3, 2004
County: Tift
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted

Abuser/Suspect: Bradley D. Owens

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 2040
Classification: Fighting
Animal: pig, dog (pit-bull)
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Bradley D. Owens, 28, of  Tifton man was charged February 2004 with two counts of animal cruelty after animal control officers said he allowed pit bulldogs to repeatedly attack a hog.

Bradley D. Owens, 28, 4435 Highway 319 South, was arrested at his residence after animal control responded to an anonymous call.

"I grew up on a farm, but I've never heard of hunting hogs this way," said Animal Control Director Reginia Wells.

"The hog was running around, and the dogs were held by a leash, or really a big rope. Say if you and I were doing it, I'd let mine lunge at the hog and then pull it back and you'd let yours lunge. One of the dogs had blood all over its mouth."

Wells said one of the hogs had to be euthanized because of serious injuries. She and her staff expected to seize three pit bulldogs belonging to Owens on Monday afternoon and were to pick up a 300-pound hog today.

"We think they were priming them up for fighting dogs," Wells said. "There is a way to hunt hogs with dogs, like you hunt raccoons with dogs, but this was not like that. People who hunt hogs with dogs usually let the dogs loose and they run after the hogs and then the people shoot the hog to eat it.

"This poor hog would have died right there. Its backbone was exposed and the sides of its neck were eaten away."

Owens' wife, Bessie Jean Owens, 31, was charged with obstruction in connection with the incident.

Case Updates

Owens pled guilty and was sentenced to 5 years probation and a $300 fine. He was never charged with the theft of "Red", as there was never enough evidence to take to court.

Special thanks to reporter J.D. Sumner of the Tifton Gazette for this update.
Update posted on Jul 5, 2006 - 1:20PM 
The red pit bull shelter officials named "Red" was stolen sometime between Saturday and early Sunday morning, Animal Control Director Regenia Wells said.

"This dog is dangerous, especially around other animals," Wells said. "We're working with local law enforcement in the investigation as to what happened, but we think that someone came and stole the animal. We don't think he's on the loose."

According to Wells, the dog had not shown any aggression to shelter staff, but had broken out of a pen inside the shelter and killed another dog in a neighboring pen.

The dog had been at the shelter in a holding pen for dangerous dogs for more than a year while its owner, Bradley Owens, awaited trial on his animal cruelty charges.

"We kept him inside the building in a holding pen, but he started getting real sluggish," Wells said. "It looked like it was literally killing him being in there, so we moved him to a secure pen out of the building."

The break-in follows an incident Tuesday in which someone shot the passenger side window of Wells' car while it was parked at the shelter. No one was hurt in the incident.

"People shouldn't panic," Wells said. "There's nothing right now that leads us to believe that he got out on his own. Someone just got him."
Source: Tifton Gazette - October 18, 2005
Update posted on Jul 5, 2006 - 1:07PM 

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References

Tifton Gazette

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