Pit bull neglect, dog-fighting suspected Westerville, OH (US) Incident Date: Friday, May 26, 2006 County: Franklin Local Map: available Disposition: Dismissed Charges: Misdemeanor Person of Interest: Bertha St-Clair Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 8710 Classification: Fighting, Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (pit-bull) View more cases in OH (US) Drugs or alcohol involved Login to Watch this Case

Police and animal control agents raided a local home Friday afternoon for suspected dog fighting, and they found something unexpected. Officials executed the raid at a home on Scissortail Loop and found not just emaciated pit bulls, but also some drugs, NBC 4's Erin Tate reported.

Bertha Saint-Clair was arrested for failing to appear at a recent animal control-related court appearance. She claimed partial ownership of the dogs, police said. The raid began after officials received a complaint in April from neighbors who said they witnessed a male pit bull and a female pit bull fighting viciously in the home's yard. A dog warden who responded to the scene said she found the dogs chained in the basement in filthy conditions, both injured and still bleeding. The dogs were allegedly both underweight and suffering from wound infections, investigators said.

At first, the owner allegedly tried to deny the dog fighting. "The person who answered the door had blood splattered all over her pants and one of her socks was practically soaked in blood. They asked her if she was having a problem with her dogs. They were surprised when she said no and kind of acted like she didn't know why they were there," said Joyce Rice, of the Capital Area Humane Society.

The owner will be charged with failure to provide proper medical treatment. She turned over possession of animals to the Capital Area Humane Society, Tate reported. The dog warden will continue to investigate if the animals were used for other fighting purposes.

Case Updates

Neighborhood Map

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.

Back to Top

Add this case to:

Del.icio.us

|

Digg

|

Furl

|

References

NBC4i - May 26, 2006

« OH State Animal Cruelty Map

Not sure what these icons mean? Click here.

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.