South Carolina: Darlington man, Alfred Dixon Jr., 37, faces animal cruelty charge, nine dogs seized

SOUTH CAROLINA -- A Darlington man is charged with animal endangerment after the city’s animal control officer found nine of his dogs malnourished and tethered with logging chains up to 2 inches in diameter.

It marks the fourth animal cruelty case reported in the Pee Dee within the past month.

Alfred Lee Dixon Jr., 37, of 107 Cotton St., Darlington, was arrested July 8, according to a Darlington Police Department incident report released Friday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Alfred Lee Dixon Jr

About 9:30 a.m. July 8, the city’s animal control officer, Merrel Sheffield, called police to the suspect’s residence after he was called there by one of the suspect’s neighbors. The suspect told both officers he’d been in New York for a week and returned to find his dogs in poor condition. Eight of the dogs were kept in the backyard, and the suspect said he’d asked his children to feed and water them while he was out of town.

Sheffield said it was clear to him the dogs “didn’t get like they were in a week’s time,” according to the report. All of the dogs were tethered to metal stakes in the ground with 1½- to 2-inch logging chains.

The “weight of the chains would cause issued to healthy dogs over time and the dogs were in a very malnourished state. The dogs’ ribs were all showing through their skin along with their spine,” according to the report. 

“All of the dogs appeared to have had open wounds on their body and seemed so fragile that they would strain to move.”

Each dog had a 5-gallon bucket of clean water and food, but the officers said it was likely placed there just before they arrived, according to the report.

A ninth dog was found inside the home and appeared to have been there for some time judging from the feces that covered the room, according to the report.

“The dog inside also had what appeared to be a wound on his left eye,” the report reads, “but (it) was hard to tell for he was fearful of officers.”

All of the dogs were photographed and taken to the county’s holding area for animals, according to the report. Their condition isn’t known.

Dixon has been released from the Darlington County Detention Center, but bond information wasn’t available.

In late June, Florence County Animal Control officials found a large black dog dead in a small transport crate after neighbors reported seeing the animal.

Charles Bell, of 805 Ventura Court in Florence, faces animal cruelty charges in connection with that case. He was not arrested, but is scheduled to appear in court July 23 at 10 a.m. to face the charges.

Scotty Davis, director of community services in Florence, said Bell’s first offense came in 2008, when officials found two pit bulls in a cage with feces.

Other recent incidents of animal cruelty include the case of Timmonsville’s Doc Smith, who tethered four pit bulls with a 19-pound chain ordinarily used for towing vehicles and other large items. Smith was cited for cruelty to animals and fined $1,078. The dogs remain at the animal control center.

On July 7, Ronald Ball of Lake View went before a judge to face charges of felony cruelty to animals and discharge of a firearm with in city limits in connection with the shooting of Von Dutch, a 5-year-old yellow Labrador retriever. After two surgeries two weeks ago, Von Dutch is expected to fully recover.

(scnow.com - July 16, 2010)