CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #6027 Rating: 2.8 out of 5
Dog-fighting - 28 dogs seized
Memphis, TN (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Mar 19, 1998
County: Shelby
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Daniel L Scott
On March 19, 1998, K9 Officer Thomas Arnold, Memphis Police, observed numerous dogs in Daniel L. Scott's unfenced backyard. The dogs were on eight to ten foot heavy chains located beside blue plastic barrels that served as makeshift dog houses, and the dogs were in standing water and mud. There was no noticeable food near any of the dogs, and the air reeked of a foul odor similar to sewer water.
March 20, 1998, Deputy Arnold and animal control officer Carolyn Lynch returned to the appellant's property to investigate. They repeatedly attempted to locate the owner of the property, but could find no one at the home. The officers discovered a total of twenty-eight Pit Bull dogs on chains. The dogs had no accessible food or sanitary water, and they either had no bedding in their "doghouses" or the bedding was soaked with rainwater. Green slime was forming on the barrels. Arnold testified that the animals were "cold," "shivering," and "wet," with scarring on their heads and faces. Additionally, Arnold stated that there were some skeletons that were thrown down the back of that property on Margaretta backs up to the railroad tracks. . . . There were also some carcasses that had not decayed completely yet that were also on that hillside.
The deputy stated that the smell that he was picking up was from other dogs that had been thrown over into this wooded area that were in various forms of decay. Some of them were blown up, swollen up, it appeared that they had just been there a short time. Others there was just the skin draped over the skeleton. And then others were just the skeleton of the animals.
Additionally, the officers found "roosters, . . .chickens, some type of hen that were in separate cages away from the dogs that were being kept on the property."
Also located on the property were a boxed-in conveyor belt used as a treadmill, a "carousel" which was surrounded by a worn groove in the dirt and was used to make the dogs run, and a fighting ring with blood on it, all of which indicated to the officers that the animals were being trained to fight. Anthony Rudolph with the Organized Crime Unit ("OCU") of the Memphis Police Department executed a search warrant on the appellant's property on the Monday following the discovery of the dogs. When the OCU arrived at the appellant's residence, the treadmill and carousel had been removed. However, Rudolph testified that he was able to see the circular rut in the dirt and the center pole that indicated where the carousel had been located.
Due to the nature of the dogs' living conditions, the animals were taken into custody by the Memphis Animal Shelter on the Friday of their discovery. The appellant later contended that he was boarding the dogs for other people and was not running a dog fighting business, specifically alleging that most of the dogs did not belong to him. However, he never attempted to claim any of "his" dogs from the animal shelter, nor did he reveal the identity of the owner(s) of any of the animals. Eventually, all of the dogs taken into custody were euthanized.
As a result of the foregoing, the appellant, Daniel L. Scott, entered a best interest guilty plea in the Shelby County Criminal Court to one count of animal fighting, a class E felony; one count of cruelty to animals, a class A misdemeanor; and one count of keeping unvaccinated dogs, a class C misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced the appellant to incarceration for one year in the Shelby County workhouse for the animal fighting conviction, six months for the animal cruelty conviction, and thirty days for the keeping unvaccinated dogs conviction. The trial court further ordered that the appellant serve the sentences concurrently. References« TN State Animal Cruelty Map
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