One pit bull found dead, others found in squalid conditions
MASSACHUSETTS -- A Brockton dog owner has been charged with four counts of animal cruelty in a July case involving four pit bulls, according to the city’s animal control officer.
Police visited Joseph’s Montello Street home on July 1 and found one pit bull dead and three others living in squalid conditions, with no food or water, in scorching heat. An Enterprise news reporter and photographer also observed the scene.
However, law enforcement officials with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said there was not enough evidence to charge Joseph, the dogs’ owner, with a crime. An MSPCA law enforcement officer met with Joseph at his home in July.
Local police vowed to pursue their own criminal charges. The delay, police said, has come from Brockton animal control officers having to wait for information from the MSPCA.
One of the three surviving pit bulls was euthanized in August. The other two -- Blue and Sadie -- are being rehabilitated by Jeni Mather, founder of the Brockton Blue Dog Shelter, and her volunteers.
Animal cruelty is a felony crime in Massachusetts. If convicted, a person could receive the maximum penalty of up to a $2,500 fine and not more than five years in a state prison.
(WCVB - Dec 23, 2012)
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