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Case #14848 Rating: 3.2 out of 5
Dog-fighting - 80 dogs seized, a dozen dead
Mayfield, KY (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Nov 6, 2008
County: Graves
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Joanal L. DeBerry
» Amy E. DeBerry - Dismissed (Conditional)
» Thomas E. Timmons - Alleged
Case Updates: 5 update(s) available
Police in two western Kentucky counties have discovered dozens of dead or injured pit bulls they say were involved in illegal dog fights.
About a dozen dead dogs that had been shot in the head were pulled from a creek in McCracken County on Thursday morning, Sheriff Jon Hayden said.
Authorities in neighboring Graves County have arrested a married couple and charged them with animal cruelty after finding about 80 pit bulls in two separate locations, including the couple's home.
Joanal L. DeBerry, 29, and Amy E. DeBerry, 25, of Hickory, face 30 counts of first-degree animal cruelty, a felony.
"We believe that some of these dogs have been involved in dogfighting," said DeWayne Redmon, chief deputy sheriff in Graves County. Redmon said the investigation could lead to more arrests.
Six of the dogs were taken by rescue authorities for treatment. One was euthanized Thursday after attacking a worker at a veterinarian clinic where the dog was being cared for, said Joseph Lacewell, who manages the Graves County Animal Shelter.
Lacewell said he was working with pit bull rescue groups around the country and in Canada to find homes for the remaining dogs.
"We're hoping to get every single one of them," Lacewell said.
Redmon said Graves County authorities received a complaint Wednesday night from a neighbor who said several dogs had been moved to a rural area in the northern part of the county. Police found about 20 pit bulls at the wooded location and learned they were brought there by the DeBerrys on Saturday, Redmon said. Police found about 60 more pit bulls at the home.
Redmon said several of the dogs at both locations had injuries they believe are related to dogfighting. Redmon said the 30 counts of animal cruelty are related to dogs that were found either with injuries or showed signs of malnourishment.
About 30 of the dogs were puppies, Lacewell said.
Police are trying to determine if the dead pit bulls found in neighboring McCracken County are linked to the DeBerrys. Hayden said the dogs had been tossed off a bridge into a creek near the Graves County line.
"Some of these looked like they had been shot and dumped last night," Hayden said.
Amy DeBerry was released from jail on bond Thursday but Joanal DeBerry remained lodged because of an additional drug possession charge, Graves County Jailer Randy Haley said. Haley did not have information on an attorney for the couple.
Case UpdatesA Graves County man will receive jail time on charges he abused dogs in his care.
The Paducah Sun reports Graves Circuit Judge Tim Stark denied Joanal Deberry's request for probation Monday.
Deberry, who is from Hickory, entered an Alford plea last month to 30 animal cruelty charges. With such a plea, a person does not admit guilt but acknowledges enough evidence exists to convict him. He received a three-year sentence but may only have to serve five months before becoming eligible for parole.
Stark dismissed the same animal cruelty charges against Deberry's wife, Amy Deberry, as part of a plea agreement attorneys negotiated last month.
Authorities found 72 pit bull dogs at Deberry's house in Graves County and another location a couple of miles away. They said many of the dogs were ill-fed and scarred from fighting. | Source: westkynews.com - Aug 24, 2010
Update posted on Nov 1, 2010 - 1:20PM |
| A total of 60 animal cruelty charges were handed down Thursday by a Graves County grand jury against Joanal and Amy Deberry. The Deberrys each face 30 felony counts of first-degree cruelty to animals for allegedly breeding pit bulls for fighting. More than 50 pit bulls were found near their home in Northern Graves County November 5th. An additional 20 dogs were found in a wooded area off House Road. A local veterinarian examined the dogs and said many of them showed signs of fighting injuries. | Source: WKYX - Dec 20, 2008
Update posted on Dec 21, 2008 - 11:35PM |
A Graves County grand jury will decide next week if Joanal and Amy Deberry should be prosecuted on 30 charges of cruelty to pit bulls that authorities think were used for dogfighting.
The Deberrys were arrested on the animal cruelty charges on Nov. 5 after Graves sheriff's deputies found 72 pit bulls at the couple's home on Ky. 1241 near Hickory and on House Road, about 2 miles away.
Graves Deputy Sheriff Davant Ramage said veterinarians examined the dogs and said that at least 30 had scars consistent with injuries from dogfighting or low weight indicating they were being trained for fighting.
District Judge Deborah Crooks found probable cause Wednesday to transfer the case to the grand jury that meets Thursday.
If indicted, they will be prosecuted in Graves Circuit Court on the felony charges. Each carries punishment of one to five years in prison.
Two felony drug charges against Joanal Deberry, 29, also were sent to the grand jury. No drug charges were filed against Amy Deberry, 27.
Ramage also testified that information and paraphernalia that the U.S. Humane Society said is consistent with dogfighting operations was discovered during a search of their home.
It included magazines, IVs thought to be used to give dogs vitamins before fights and to treat them after fights, and tags listing names of dogs and the number of wins.
Ramage also told Crooks that men hired to care for the dogs told him that the dogs were used in fighting.
Under questioning from attorney Todd Elmore, who represented Joanal Deberry, Ramage said he had no direct evidence that the Deberrys owned the dogs when they sustained their injuries.
However, Ramage said there are records indicating when the Deberrys acquired many of the dogs and those dates could be compared with veterinarians' estimates of when the injuries were inflicted.
Ramage also said he found no evidence that fighting had occurred on or near where the dogs were found.
Deputy Sheriff George Workman testified that Amy Deberry at first told him they were running a rescue operation for pit bulls formerly involved in fighting. However, he said she later said they were breeding dogs.
The Deberrys did not testify. | Source: The Paducah Sun - Dec 12, 2008
Update posted on Dec 21, 2008 - 11:34PM |
A western Kentucky man has been charged with evidence tampering as part of an investigation into a possible dog fighting ring.
Thomas Timmons was arrested Friday in connection with the dumping of 11 dead pit bulls into the Clark's River. Police say the 30-year old shot 11 dogs in the head, then put them in his truck and drove to McCracken County where he allegedly dumped their carcasses over a bridge.
The investigation stems from the discovery of 72 pit bulls in two places in Graves County back in November. The next day, McCracken County authorities found the dead pit bulls.
27-year old Amy Deberry and 29-year old Joana Deberry were arrested on 30 felony counts of cruelty to animals. | Source: Lex18 - Dec 7, 2008
Update posted on Dec 7, 2008 - 4:50PM |
Authorities in Graves and McCracken counties believe they are on the trail of a major dog-fighting operation that could spread across several states.
The investigation began Wednesday in Graves County when 72 pit bulls were discovered at two locations and moved to McCracken County early Thursday when 11 dead pit bulls were discovered in Clark's River on Bryant Ford Road east of Reidland.
Three people have been charged in Graves County. Amy DeBerry, 27, and Joanal DeBerry, 29, face 30 felony counts of cruelty to animals. Thomas McClellan, 55, of Clinton faces two drug charges and driving without an operator's license. Joanal DeBerry also is charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Graves County Deputy Sheriff Davant Ramage said the dogs were left in the woods and at the home on Wednesday night. On Thursday, Amy and Joanal DeBerry sign documents turning the dogs over to the Graves County Humane Society. Deputies and animal rescue volunteers went to the DeBerry home and a nearby wooded area Thursday night and removed the remaining dogs. Computers and other records also were taken from the DeBerry residence.
The deputy said the local humane society made arrangements for a nationwide animal rescue group to care for the dogs. "They are going to be kept all over the country," he said. "We have some people coming in from Nashville and other places."
Paducah veterinarian Eugene Ceglinski said the dogs discovered earlier Thursday in Clark's River died from gunshot wounds to the head. He said at least seven of them had been shot within 12 hours of the time they were discovered.
McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden said he believes the dogs were killed Wednesday night or Thursday morning after the owners learned of the raid in Graves County at the DeBerry home, on Ky. 1241 across from the Pilgrim's Pride chicken processing plant.
"Someone probably felt the heat and didn't want to be found with a large number of pit bulls," Hayden said. "The only way they could get rid of them was to kill them and dump them." He said they had been tossed over a bridge from Bryant Ford Road, less than five miles from the Graves County site where the other dogs were found.
Hayden said evidence was being gathered to identify the owners.
Ramage said the raids in Graves County and discovery in McCracken County are probably related. He believes the dogs in Graves had different owners than those in McCracken.
He said that more than two dozen dog-fighting magazines were found at the DeBerry residence and that many of the dogs showed signs of fight injuries.
"There's big money in dog fighting," Ramage said. "People bet on them, and purses for winners can be $5,000 or more. It is difficult to get information on this type of crime because people involved won't talk. They fear retaliation."
Ramage said he had not found anything to indicate dog-fighting was taking place in Graves County.
Ramage said the investigation began Wednesday when someone called to report a large number of dogs tied up in a wooded area off House Road in northern Graves County.
As deputies headed to the site, they followed a pickup truck occupied by three men. The truck stopped at the House Road site.
"They had been hired to care for the dogs and were there to feed them," Ramage said. McClellan was driving the truck. The other two occupants weren't charged.
Ramage said 20 dogs were in a clearing and chained to buried automobile axles. Ramage said the men gave them information that led them to the DeBerry home at 2754 Ky. 1241, about two miles away. At that site they discovered 52 more pit bulls.
Ramage said six of the dogs were in such bad shape that they were taken to a local animal shelter Wednesday night. "They had pieces out of their ears, and the upper lip of one dog was almost gone," Ramage said.
Ramage said one of the dogs bit a worker at the shelter Thursday morning. "We are getting a court order to put the dog down so we can check it for rabies," Ramage said. "It was a pretty severe bite."
In McCracken County, Hayden said he received a call about two weeks ago that someone had dumped one or more dead dogs off a bridge on Bryant Ford Road and into Clark's River.
"After I heard about what happened in Graves County, I went to the bridge this (Thursday) morning," Hayden said. "There was blood on the bridge and dead dogs in the water."
Volunteers with McCracken County Emergency Services put a boat in the river, and two workers recovered the bodies of 11 dogs.
Ceglinski examined the dogs and said all of them had been shot in the head.
Ceglinski determined that seven or eight of the dogs had been killed within hours of their discovery. Others died several days earlier. Hayden believes the dogs that died earlier may have been injured in fights and killed to end their misery.
Ceglinski said seven of the dogs were female and four were male. "The females were probably used for breeding," Ceglinski said. "The males were used for fighting." He said at least three males had injuries consistent with dog-fighting.
Hayden said bullets would be recovered and kept for evidence.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Ceglinski, a vet in Paducah for 34 years. "When you spent your life caring for animals, finding something like this is shocking. I guess it tells you something about human nature." | Source: The Paducha Sun Herald - Nov 7, 2008
Update posted on Nov 7, 2008 - 9:28AM |
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