Man accused of using Taser on two pit bulls, striking them with curtain rods

PENNSYLVANIA -- A Derry Township man was arraigned Tuesday on animal cruelty charges, after authorities said his girlfriend accused him of using a Taser on two pit bulls and abusing the dogs with curtain rods, broken broom handles and mallets.

Travis Jamal Fults, 25, of the 800 block of Clifton Heights Road, is being held in Dauphin County Prison. His bail was set Tuesday morning at $50,000 by Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth S. Beckley.

Travis Jamal Fults

The pit bulls Fults is accused of abusing are named "Karmello" and "Shell Shocks." Police first received a report of the alleged abuse on April 4, according to charging documents.

Fults' girlfriend was interviewed that day by Derry Township police, at which point she told officers Fults hit the dogs with the various objects, kicked and hit them and also used a Taser on them. She told police the abuse stretched back to last November.

The woman referenced an alleged incident from last Thanksgiving in which she said Fults hit the dogs in the head with a curtain rod. He did this because they had gone to the bathroom in the Lemoyne apartment where the woman lived at the time, she told police.

She also claimed that she tried to step between Fults and the dogs, but the woman said he "told her to move or she would get hit too."

That alleged incident led the couple to break up for a brief time, but Fults' girlfriend told police they got back together. She said she believes Fults continued to abuse the dogs after the reconciliation, but she said he stopped doing it in front of her.

The woman also provided police with the names of two witnesses, who both confirmed to police they saw the dogs' injuries. One witness also told police Fults admitted to him that he abused the dogs.

The dogs were examined April 8 at the Palmyra Animal Clinic, according to William Sandstrom, a humane police officer who filed charging documents.

They underwent X-rays and other evaluation, which showed broken bone jaw fragments, Sandstrom said. Shell Shocks, who is also called "Mr. Shocks," also had a pronounced limp, a veterinarian reported.

Derry Township police also took photographs of the dogs, which allegedly showed "lumps" on both of their heads, a cut on Karmello's head and a cut on Shell Shocks' leg, police said in charging documents.

The dogs as of Tuesday were being cared for at the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area, said Amy Kaunas, the humane society's executive director.

Police as part of their initial investigation seized a mallet, a hand-held Taser and a broom handle that Fults allegedly used to abuse the dogs.

Officers also reported they observed a cage in an apartment bedroom closet where the dogs were allegedly kept. Police reported the closet being poorly lit and said they found foam bedding torn into pieces in the cage.

Fults is also being held in prison on simple assault and disorderly conduct charges stemming from an unrelated incident in Derry Township. He is tentatively scheduled to appear July 16 for a preliminary court hearing on the animal cruelty charges.

(Penn Live - July 8, 2014)