Pg 3/1 - final

THIS is Mobile’s animal cruelty prevention system at work!  And the final chapter ... this individual has been reported countless times and nothing has been done.

Pg. 2/1 see below
I gave the operator the address information & details regarding my claim. She assured me that an offcr. would be dispatched to investigate the problem. She was the most helpful person I’d spoken to.  Prior to my red-tape undertaking,  I had used a lunch hour to drive to & inspect the alleged crime scene for myself.  What I saw broke my heart.  The need to abuse & torture helpless animals is foreign to me, therefore I could only base my perceptions & observations on the facts that Ms. Flott & Mr. Petri provided in their news documentary.  In addition to the deliberately overgrown condition of the property & the suspicious items strewn about,  I discovered a pit bull chained to a stake near the driveway.  After numerous attempts to gain the dog’s attention through whistling, clapping & calling out to him from the window of my car, I gave up.  I saw no movement - no eye flinching - no rabid slobber - no growling or baring of teeth, & certainly no tail wagging.  I could only assume the dog was dead, exhausted or injured & I drove away.  See Part 3.

After viewing Mr. Petri’s story yesterday, I made an attempt to report pit bull cruelty based on guidelines that he and Ms. Flott had outlined in their newscast.  First, I telephoned the local S.P.C.A.  The person who answered there instructed me to call an animal shelter that dealt with abuse in Mobile county.  The shelter that I contacted advised me to call the Mobile County Sheriff’s office or the city of Mobile’s police department - they wavered, uncertain which agency was best equipped to handle my complaint.  When I called the sheriff’s office, they directed me to the local S.P.C.A.  Instead, I called another shelter and they suggested that I contact the Prichard animal control unit which is part of the Public Works department for the City of Prichard.  The phone was disconnected.  This took well over an hour.  Finally, after logging on to the City of Prichard’s web site, I located a telephone number for a “tip hot line” and was directed to the Prichard Police Department.  - part II will follow - I’ve used up my “character allowance”

I am SO happy to see that animal cruelty is FINALLY getting noticed here in Mobile, AL. I have been living next door to a woman who, I believe is one of the cruelest. For at least 13 years I have seen horses starved only to be hauled out to the back of her property to rot. Break a leg, and she pulls out her tusty pistol, shoots them and drags them to the back and leaves them on the ground. The stench is so bad that you cannot sit on my backporch.  Many times these horses have been starved to the point of bone structure sticking out and all the S.P.C.A. does is gives her a couple of months to fatten them back up and then she goes back on some “List”. Also, I have seen her dogs tearing down animals, such as goats and a calf, told her about it and she let it go on. Finally, she got mad and again, pulled out her pistol, shot the dogs and took them to what our family fondly calls “THE BONE YARD”. I pray and I hope something can be done!

I am trying to decide what “attention” this has gotten. i know of someone who tried for hours to file a complaint regarding a possibly dead pit bull of a suspected dog-fighting ring, which by the way has been reported to “investigators” for the past several years. Well, needless to say the information given yesterday in the report was inaccurate, as the SPCA “does not handle that” and it took hours to get someone to"handle” it. I do not understand the total lack of concern for animals in this community. Baldwin and Escambia counties do a wonderful job of seizing abused animals and prosecuting the offenders, yet in Mobile nothing happens, even “repeat” offenders can continue to torture animals. I guess the lesson here is that animal abusers can come to Mobile, because most likely nothing will happen to you! Wake up people-these are the next child/elder abusers and murderers!

I am glad that dog-fighting is now getting attention. There are many forms of animal cruelty and abuse that need investigating and prosecuting. It concerns me that some of these cases, including suspected dog-fighting rings have been reported numerous times in the past and are allowed to continue. The same with other animal cruelty cases. We have recently formed a group to help with this problem in Mobile County, and if anyone would like to contact us they may do so at 455-0008 or 605-4710. We hope to work with local, state and national officials to solve this problem in our area.

I have possible information related to several dog fighting organizations in the Mobile and Baldwin county area but have been advised, that due to the dark and dangerous nature of the individuals involved, to simply stay out of it.  I find this extremely hard to do. This is an evil blood sport which it seems has become a status symbol in certain communities.  It is only going to get worse if the laws and punishments aren’t strengthened and strictly enforced.  Is there an anonymous tip line where the SPCA or the media can be notified when private citizens have information but are simply afraid to come forward and testify?  I am a mother and would be afraid to have my family involved, especially since one of the alleged leaders of the local dog fighting groups is in fact another professional sports celebrity and has alliances across the entire Gulf Coast.  There is also an older gentleman in the Baldwin county area who lives alone and is also afraid to come forward with information.  Please let the public know how to handle this.