Shooting/killing of Greyhounds
Lillian, AL (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2002
County: Baldwin
Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA
Disposition: Dismissed
Person of Interest: Robert Leroy Rhodes
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
LILLIAN, Ala. -- Investigators found the remains of as many as 2,000 animals, including hundreds of racing dogs, on the property of a man who said he has been shooting and burying greyhounds at a charge of $10 per animal for more than 40 years.
State officials obtained a warrant to search the 18 acres owned by Robert Rhodes after receiving a tip from Florida investigators. Satellite images showed animal bones strewn about the property and investigators used the photographs to convince a judge to issue the warrant.
Florida officials were investigating allegations that greyhounds from Pensacola Greyhound Park, a dog-racing track, have been improperly destroyed.
Rhodes, 68, told The Mobile Register that he has killed and buried as many as 2,000 animals humanely -- with a gunshot -- but did not say what tracks brought him the dogs.
"Wouldn't you assume a person doing this for 40 years would know how to put them down?" he said. "I would not condone any torture."
Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone said he is considering criminal charges against Rhodes under the state's "Gucci Law" if any of the animals underwent severe pain or were tortured. The 2-year-old law was named for a Mobile dog that survived torture. The offense is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Other possible charges include animal cruelty, a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of a year in jail.
Whetstone said a veterinarian autopsied four of the dogs and determined only one had been shot cleanly through the brain. The others received bullet wounds through the neck and elsewhere, indicating they would have suffered before dying, he said.
Susan Netboy, president of the Greyhound Protection League in Sacramento, CA, said she hoped there would be a follow-up investigation because she believed the extermination of aging greyhounds is common.
"The evidence that was brought to light by the district attorney destroys the ongoing propaganda from the racing industry that greyhounds are treated humanely and are not killed," she said.
UPDATE: Sheriff's investigator Huey Mack Jr. said Rhodes has been charged with three felony animal cruelty charges. Animal torture is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Case UpdatesAccording to The Mobile Register (7/2), the case against Robert Rhodes, the Alabama man who admitted to killing more than 2,000 racing greyhounds over the last decade, has drawn to a close, due to the unexpected death of Mr. Rhodes.
Read More: The Mobile Register | | Update posted on Jul 3, 2003 - 8:44PM |
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