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(Contributed Photo) A disposition ruling was made in Municipal Court regarding the animal cruelty case from the seizure of 17 dogs from 1226 West Sixth Street earlier this month. The dogs were ruled to remain in the custody of the Breckenridge Animal Shelter. -
(Contributed Photo) Stephens County Justice of the Peace Judge Steve Spoon ruled that the 17 dogs seized earlier this month from a property on the 1200 block of West Sixth Street will remain in the custody of Breckenridge Animal Control at the shelter. -
(Photo/Alex Kielar) A disposition hearing was held in municipal court Friday, Aug. 22, where Stephens County Justice of the Peace Judge Steve Spoon ruled that the 17 dogs seized from a property earlier this month are to remain in the custody of Breckenridge Animal Control at the shelter. -
(Photo/Alex Kielar) The 17 dogs seized from a property on the 1200 block of West Sixth Street earlier this month by Breckenridge Animal Control were ordered to remain in their custody at the shelter at a municipal court hearing Friday, Aug. 22. Criminal charges are also expected to be filed in District Court soon.
Following a disposition hearing in which the defendants failed to appear, Stephens County Justice of the Peace Judge Steve Spoon ruled that the 17 dogs seized earlier this month from a property on the 1200 block of West Sixth Street will remain in the custody of Breckenridge Animal Control at the shelter.
The animals, found in various stages of malnourishment and neglect, will be held at the city shelter through the 10-day appeal window. After that period, their fate will be determined based on health evaluations and adaptability.
During the hearing held Friday, Aug. 22, Animal Control Officer Stephen Sharpe and Breckenridge Police Department Captain Jay Walker presented detailed accounts of the conditions on the property, 1226 West Sixth Street, describing dogs chained to trees, confined in overcrowded cages and surrounded by decaying wildlife with no access to food or water.
Photographs presented to the court showed moldy food remnants, stagnant rainwater and the large chains tethering the dogs. Sharpe said that he arrived at the property Thursday, Aug. 7 after an anonymous neighbor called in regarding a dead hog and a dead chicken. After days of investigating, the 17 dogs were seized Tuesday, Aug. 12.
Two puppies that were described by Sharpe as severely malnourished and unresponsive to treatment, were initially ordered to be humanely euthanized.
“Unfortunately, the two small puppies don’t seem to be putting on weights and they are extremely malnourished,” Sharpe said. “I do not believe that, honestly, that they are salvageable at this point.”
However, after public support for the puppies not to be put down, the Stephens County Humane Society stepped in and has made arrangements for them to be transferred to a specialty foster, where they will be rehabilitated.
"We could not step forward like this without the support of the community," the Humane Society said on Facebook. "Thank you for your past and future financial support, along with support for the Resale Shop. We are YOU and YOU are saving lives."
An additional adult dog may be euthanized at the discretion of the animal control staff, also depending on whether the Humane Society ends up stepping in on that one as well.
“I’m going to give you guys discretion on how to go forward with that since you’re seeing them every day and have been with them from the beginning,” Spoon said.
Sharpe said that he has dewormed and treated the dogs with vitamins.
“Some are responding to that,” he said. “Some of them aren’t.”
Walker added in his testimony that the property is expansive and littered with deer carcasses, empty kennels, dogs in kennels and dogs in chains. He described it as being like a “dog business,” with signs of organized breeding or hunting activity.
“Once you walk from the street into the area, even in open air, the smell of old carcasses just knocks you over,” Walker said. “The game warden (Clifton Westbrook) made a comment that if there were one or two [dogs], that would have been one thing. This looks like it’s part of an enterprise.”
If the defendants, named as the “Trevinos” in the case, wish to appeal, they must pay $2,000 to cover housing and potential euthanasia costs. Sharpe estimated that maybe about 25% of the dogs are adoptable, primarily “some of the younger ones and some of the less malnourished.” The rest will be evaluated after the appeal window to determine whether they be placed or must be euthanized. BPD and animal control will come back to the court regarding the costs and how to move forward once the next determinations are made.
“We’ll come back and we’ll add that to their charges going forward,” Spoon said. “We’re going to serve them…We’re going to actually serve them our ruling on this just to try to cover all of our bases. We’re not just going to – we can mail them one – but we’re going to serve one.”
Criminal charges for animal cruelty are also expected to be filed in District Court in the near future, separate from the 154 municipal citations already issued for violations including unlawful restraint, lack of shelter and unsanitary conditions.
