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June 17, 2009

16 seized pit bulls to be put to death Wednesday, Floyd County animal control director says

Rome News-Tribune

Only seven of 26 pit bulls seized last week in a suspected dog fighting ring have been adopted — 16 will be put to death Wednesday, said Floyd County animal control director Jason Broome.

The seven dogs that have been adopted include an adult female dog and six of her puppies.

Two adults have already been put down because they were severely aggressive, Broome said. A third was euthanized because it had serious infections from being involved in fights.

During Thursday’s raid in Lindale, 17 adult pit bulls and nine pit bull puppies were seized.

The dogs cannot be adopted by persons in the county according to a county ordinance, which defines pit bull terriers as vicious animals.

When animals are put down by animal control, they are first sedated and then administered a shot.

“The ordinance is at least 10 or 12 years old,” said Broome. “The number one reason we can’t adopt them out to citizens of the county is that it s a policy not to adopt out a vicious dog.”

Broome said he tried to find some out-of-town rescue groups to take the dogs, but that was unsuccessful.

“…there are so many raids right now, people interested in these types of dogs are just so inundated,” said Broome

Meanwhile, a third suspect has been charged in connection with the seizure.

Kenyatta Kenyon Towers, 34, of 609 Hardy Ave. in Rome, was arrested Monday and charged with 26 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and one count of dog fighting, a felony. He also is being held on a probation violation.

A criminal warrant for Towers’ arrest states that on May 28 investigators working for the Humane Society of the U.S., acting on a tip, began conducting surveillance at an Eden Circle address in Lindale.

The investigators observed “13 pit bulls chained with heavy logging chains attached to car axles” driven into the ground.

The dogs “were tied away from each other, consistent with how fighting dogs are secured,” according to the warrant. The enclosure was in unsanitary condition, little if any water and no food was observed, and the dogs appeared to have scars and wounds consistent with dog fighting, according to the warrant.

Dominique Ladell Porter, 26, of 514 Harper Ave., and Marcus Fredriek Beasley, 21, of 223 Pennington Ave., were charged with 15 counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals after the seizure, according to jail records.

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