Authorities confiscated 19 dogs, including five puppies with fleas, and arrested their owner on April 25, charging him with felony animal cruelty.
The arrest came a week after Tampa police saw at least nine dogs roaming in Michael Ray Gibson Jr.'s dirt yard among a washing machine, broken glass, metal parts and what an officer called "a sea of feces."
This is the second time Gibson, 28, of 2110 E. Nedro Road, has faced criminal charges regarding his dogs.
The animal cruelty charge is related to Roscoe, a male chow with a mite infestation so severe the animal had pulled out clumps of its fur, investigators said.
Gibson also is charged with more than a dozen misdemeanor counts of improper confinement of animals and a city ordinance violation for owning more than four large animals. He was being held at Orient Road Jail on Tuesday. His bail was set at $9,250.
"It's a petty law, but I'm a lawbreaker," Gibson said before his arrest. He called the animals "my children" and said of their seizure, "Might as well take my heart and kill me."
Gibson is listed as a self-employed stoneworker in jail records. He said he cleaned the yard two days ago.
"I take great care of them. They always have food. They always have water. They have shelter," he said. "They might not have, you know, 100 percent clean. I haven't been able to get to it, cleaning it up."
Police responding to another issue in the neighborhood last week noticed the dogs in the back yard, which was covered with "a sea of feces," said Tampa police Officer Greg Hattle, who photographed the yard.
On April 25, the feces was gone, but the stench lingered. Clumps of hair lay in the dirt by the gate where Hattle said the chow had rested.
The outside dogs had dug a hole and catacombs in the yard for shelter, apparently ignoring two rooms at the back of the house left open for them, Hattle said. There was clothing and rotting food on the floor of both rooms, and the animals had a single water dish to share.
In addition to the dogs, investigators seized a tarantula, a scorpion, two ferrets and a corn snake.
Veterinarians at Hillsborough County Animal Services will examine the dogs and determine whether any can be adopted or must be euthanized. Several, including Rottweiler and Labrador mixes, had to be tranquilized to be transported Tuesday, Hillsborough County Animal Services supervisor Dennis McCullough said.
If convicted of the felony charge, Gibson faces up to five years in prison or up to $10,000 in fines.
Court records show Gibson pleaded guilty in May to misdemeanor improper confinement of animals and two city ordinance violations for having animals that were a public nuisance.
Adjudication was withheld; he paid $185 in fees.
Hattle said one of Gibson's dogs at the time had chased and killed a cat.
In addition to three or four dogs, investigators had found a 300-pound pig at the house, Hattle said. The pig was gone Tuesday. Case UpdatesHillsborough Animal Services was unable to save nine of 18 dogs confiscated from a Tampa home earlier in the week.
Michael Gibson was arrested Tuesday on animal cruelty charges. Investigators say many of the dogs were in bad shape, with no water, food or shelter.
Some of the dogs are severely anemic because of a flea infestation. County officials euthnized the nine dogs they couldn't help, including a mother dog and her five puppies. The other dogs will soon be looking for good homes. One of them is a 13-year-old Chow. | Source: Tampa Bay 10 - April 28, 2006 Update posted on Apr 28, 2006 - 12:51PM |
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