Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: 8 dogs neglected, 2 found dead

8 dogs neglected, 2 found dead
Springfield, OH (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Sep 28, 2006
County: Jefferson
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Kevin Ross Copeland

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 9684

Classification: Neglect / Abandonment

Animal: dog (non pit-bull), dog (pit-bull)

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Drugs or alcohol involved

A 24-year-old Springfield Township man was held Sept 29 on a $100,000 cash bond, charged with seven offenses after a Richland County Sheriff's Office search on Sept 28 found marijuana, weapons and dead and starving dogs on his property.

Kevin Ross Copeland, of 920 Earick Road, was arraigned in Mansfield Municipal Court on a felony charge of the illegal manufacture and cultivation of drugs, three counts of cruelty to animals and three counts of failure to maintain proper liability insurance for his dogs based on their breed.

Copeland remained in the Richland County Jail Friday afternoon, a court representative said.

Mandy Jaynes, 23, whose last known address is the same as Copeland's, was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant for an outstanding traffic citation, deputies said. Both were at the Earick Road duplex in Springfield Township when deputies searched it.

The sheriff's office said deputies also are trying to locate Aaron Hall, 29, who lives on the other side of the duplex, for questioning.

Deputy county dog wardens said an animal cruelty complaint led them to the Earick Road address where they reportedly saw marijuana plants and called the sheriff's office.

Two dead dogs were found at the scene and six others, described by deputies as starved, were removed to the animal shelter. Deputies said they also found marijuana plants and weapons.

Deputies confiscated a Romanian-made, semi-automatic assault rifle that sheriff's Deputy Dale Rhoads described as "an AK-47 knockoff, a similar-type weapon." Deputies also confiscated two 30-round clips for the gun, which contained red-tipped tracer bullets.

Case Updates

An emaciated red hound dog rescued last week is recovering at the Richland County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center.

"He's wagging his tail all the time now. He's eating voraciously. He's gaining weight and he appears to be a happy dog," Dog Warden Dave Jordan said. "Of course, he was living confined in mud and feces, and had nothing to eat to survive except the carcass of a dog that had starved to death.

"So, going from that situation to a place where he's inside, warm and dry, and getting attention and lots of food, he's doing well now and you can see it in his eyes."

Responding to an animal cruelty complaint about 11 a.m. Sept. 29, deputy dog wardens found potted marijuana plants near a kennel area in which there were two carcasses of dogs that had starved to death.
Kevin Ross Copeland, 920 Earick Road, was arraigned in Mansfield Municipal Court on a felony charge of illegal manufacture and cultivation of drugs and three counts of animal cruelty. He was held in Richland County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

Jordan said he hopes to see the hound adopted, if Copeland is convicted of animal cruelty charge and the county can take custody of the dog.

"Hopefully, the judge will rule that he can no longer own those dogs and cannot own other dogs in the future," Jordan said.

Jordan said the fact the starved hound had to eat the carcasses of starved dogs won't stop him from being a good pet once he's recovered.

"It's different when a dog attacks and kills another dog in a predator-type mode," he said. "But this dog ate (the carcasses) only out of survival. He seems to be a good dog around us here, and I don't foresee any problems. We're going to try to adopt him out when we can."

An adult mastiff and the 3-week-old puppy she was nursing, along with two pit bulls confiscated Sept. 29, belong to a woman who had put her dogs in Copeland's care temporarily because she had no place to house them, Jordan said.

Jordan said the four dogs were "all a little bit on the thin side but not horrible" and generally in decent health. She told the warden she plans to move with the dogs to Kentucky.

Two pit bulls that belong to a man living in the duplex next to Copeland were claimed by that man and released to him, Jordan said.

The woman and the man are not being charged. A fifth pit bull is owned by Copeland and remains in the dog shelter.

Source: News Journal - Oct 5, 2006
Update posted on Oct 5, 2006 - 12:20PM

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Mansfield News Journal - Sept 30, 2006

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8 dogs neglected, 2 found deadSpringfield, OH (US)

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8 dogs neglected, 2 found dead
Springfield, OH (US)