This horrible, vile thing happened in my home town

[Rudys Mom]

Oh My God, that is worse than horrible. How sad for those poor dear defenseless dogs. I wouldn't even call who did this human beings. Those poor dear other dogs who surely had to witness that happening. I can't even image what they thought and how scared they must be now. I hope they find whoever did this and throw the book at them. I really wish the same thing could be done to them.

[JESSY_RN2B]

This is so disturbing........

[Morkie4]

Shocking, sad and very scarey that those who did these terrible things are still out there!

[bettyeanne]

That is so sick!! I hope they are caught and punished!

[Bianca]

That is overkill what they did, they are monsters..
How terrible, I would be really scared. Whoever did this is perfectly capable of doing this to another human.. I hope they catch this moron.. Poor little dog it must have suffered.What a tragedy

Bianca

[txshopper73]

Take a good hard look at the future serial killer. Probably a young/teenage boy. You'll be reading about him again in the future if they don't catch him now.

[rrosenberry]

New developments in this case.. I'm so confused.. I don't know what to think.
www.timesreporter.com

[rrosenberry]

Deadly dog fight? Officials: Humans not responsible for attacks
By JOE MIZER, T-R Staff Writer



Sheriff?s department maintenance workers Angelo Wardell (L) and Bob Anders rebury dogs Thursday at Safe Harbor Dog Rescue at Brightwood after a veterinarian?s examination.

Two dogs that died last week at a Brightwood area animal rescue facility were killed by other dogs, not by a human being, law enforcement officials concluded Thursday.

Tuscarawas County Sheriff Walt Wilson, who led an investigation that resulted Thursday in all of Carol Powell?s remaining dogs being removed from her premises at 22061⁄2 Herbert St. SE, New Philadelphia, said officials learned Thursday ?that these dogs were viciously attacked by other dogs.?

Powell, operator of the Safe Harbor Doberman and Min Pin Rescue, had told authorities last week that a collie mix named Sunny died after being bludgeoned with a baseball bat, tortured, then cut open with a hunting-type knife between late Feb. 21 and early Feb. 22.

Powell didn?t contact sheriff deputies until last Friday, after she said she awoke to find another dog, Ruphert, at the bottom of some steps with its head caved in. Powell, in comments to The Times-Reporter on Monday, said the Doberman mix had been tortured and cut with a sharp knife.

And even though the reward being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect grew Thursday to $7,595, ?I am of the opinion that the dogs have been fighting and killing each other, that?s what I think has been going on,? Wilson said at the scene.

But Betty Gasser, Carol Powell?s mother with whom she resides, said the sheriff?s theory is incorrect. She maintained the slain dogs were ?slit right down the gut,? not wounded by other dogs in a fight.

?They?re lying,? Gasser said of the theory. ?The motive is the neighbors wanted rid of the dogs.?

Wilson said that when authorities on Thursday exhumed the bodies of the two dogs, the body of a beagle also was in the grave. The dogs? bodies were taken to an area veterinarian?s office where they were examined before being returned and reburied Thursday.

Sheriff Detective Capt. Orvis Campbell and Wilson visited the Safe Harbor facilities on Wednesday, and both said they are absolutely convinced that no one would have climbed into the dog pens or the converted mobile home to beat the dogs with a bat as Powell contends.

Campbell said the two dogs were examined by Dr. Drew Yosick of Town and Country Veterinary Clinic at New Philadelphia. Based on Yosick?s examination and Thursday?s investigation, law enforcement officials are not looking for any human suspects, Campbell added.

Campbell said Yosick could not find any signs that the dogs were beaten or that they were cut open.

?He found large holes in the dogs that I viewed as well, and he showed us that they were very typical of attack wounds,? he said.

Campbell said Yosick did find puncture wounds from teeth that were symmetrical, and ?he was 100 percent convinced that they were dog (bite) wounds.?

Campbell and the sheriff both said that neither of the slain animals? heads was bashed in, as had been reported, and that neither was cut open with a knife.

?What they did here was a crime,? Powell said of the exhumation as she watched the dogs being reburied. Gasser threatened a lawsuit even before the removal of the live animals began. She said authorities should be looking for ?whoever did this.?

Wilson and Campbell said what helped convince them that the wounds were caused by other dogs was a dog fight they witnessed Wednesday at the facilities. Several dogs, they said, attacked one dog.

?They had him down,? Campbell said. ?Chewing away on him,? Wilson added.

?The attack we witnessed was vicious,? Campbell said. ?The dog was down, and there were several on top of it just attacking it, and it was screaming.?

Wilson said Wednesday?s attack was stopped when Powell walked over to the fence and began speaking to the dogs. ?And eventually they quit,? he said.

Campbell said he collected evidence Thursday that confirmed that the dogs didn?t have enough food, and that increased the attacks.

?The weaker ones didn?t get fed, because when they were fed the other ones would kind of bully them away,? he said. And because they weren?t segregated, there was no way for the weaker dogs to get away.

Wilson described the conditions at Safe Harbor as ?horrible.? Karen Slough, county dog warden, said that in her 15 years on the job she had never smelled a worse odor than the one in the mobile home converted to a dog kennel.

Campbell explained that the legal action that precipitated the removal of Powell?s live animals was a summons on a complaint. Powell has 28 days to respond to the complaint.

County Prosecutor Amanda Spies, who also was at the scene, assisted in the preparation of Thursday?s legal action filed against Powell and in obtaining a search warrant to seize the dogs and remove them from the property.

Twenty to 30 dogs, under the care of the county dog warden, were taken to a secure location other than the county dog pound. Their removal from Powell?s residence continued Thursday night.

Powell, who watched tearfully and assisted with the removal as best she could, said she took in and cared for dogs that were emaciated and ill, and after their recuperation they would be adopted. Some went to other states and some to Canada.

Powell said humane societies know her, the operators of other shelters know her, and they all work together. She noted that she fosters dogs for other counties and that?s why she had so many at one time.

?She is a very good-hearted person. Carol is a wonderful person,? said Sharon French of Akron, who arrived as the Safe Harbor dogs were being removed.

French, who previously operated a dog sanctuary, said Powell had been kind enough to take four dogs she had obtained from Portage County Animal Protective League as a courtesy.

Since the events of last week, French said she was looking for people to take the mixed breeds from Safe Harbor in an attempt to lower the number of animals that Powell was caring for.

[furby2000]

Originally Posted by red98vett

Reading things like that make me EMBARRASSED TO BE HUMAN !

I agree... this is beyond words..