(February 2018) In Florida, you can slowly starve a dog to death and Volusia County Judge Bryan Feigenbaum will only make you spend about a month in the county jail

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA -- An Edgewater woman was sentenced to 120 days in the county jail Wednesday after police said she starved her pit bull, which eventually died despite efforts by rescuers to try and save the dog’s life.

Sarah Wells, 37, had originally been charged with FELONY ANIMAL CRUELTY in which she faced up to FIVE YEARS IN PRISON if convicted.

Instead, lazy prosecutors and Volusia County Judge Bryan Feigenbaum let her plead "no contest" to the less serious charge of MISDEMEANOR ANIMAL CRUELTY -- essentially the same level of crime as driving without insurance, shoplifting, vandalism and driving without a license. The crime of slowly starving this poor dog to death, in the eyes of the law, is equal to someone stealing a DVD from Walmart.

Volusia County Judge Bryan Feigenbaum adjudicated Wells guilty and sentenced her to 120 days in the county jail followed by 12 months of unsupervised probation based on the plea agreement.

Wells is barred from owning any animals while on probation. But as soon as her one-year probation ends, she is free to get new animals and starve them to death.

So she doesn't get sentenced to state prison, she is only sent to the county jail -- which is much easier and more lenient than a state prison. With jail overcrowding, most inmates are only required to serve 1/3 of their sentence - so this really means she's only been sentenced to 40 days, about a month for the crime of slowly starving her dog to death. 

 

 

Animal abusers will only be deterred from abusing and killing animals when the punishment fits the crime. Also, if you look at Wells' criminal history, you'll see one arrest after another for domestic violence/battery. In fact, she was arrested for bettery AFTER she had been arrested for animal cruelty!!! 

Seems no one in Volusia County cares that she is 100% guaranteed to continue to abuse animals and humans without fear of punishment.

SHAMEFUL:

Volusia County Judge Bryan Feigenbaum is an embarrassment

The case started when police were called Dec. 20 to the Edgewater Animal Shelter, 605 Mango Tree Drive, where they were told that a woman had surrendered a sickly dog the previous day, according to an arrest report.

The woman, later identified as Wells, claimed to shelter staff that the Pit Bull was a stray that had simply walked onto her property, a report stated. But animal shelter staffers were skeptical because the dog was so malnourished that it even wasn’t able to stand up on its own, police said.

Wells subsequently admitted to lying to animal shelter workers, police said. She said the dog named Wiggins had belonged to her and to a man who had lived at the house.

Shelter workers took the dog to Newman Veterinary Center where staff worked to try to save its life. Animal shelter employees renamed the dog Adonis and mounted a social media campaign to help pay for the dog’s care. However, the dog's vital organs had shut down due to the extreme starvation and, despite their best efforts, he died.

“Our sweet Adonis took a serious turn for the worse this afternoon,” the Edgewater Animal Shelter wrote in a Facebook post on Feb. 15. “He passed away surrounded by people that loved him. His body just gave up, he could not overcome the starvation and neglect he suffered.”

 

 

ARREST HISTORY FOR SARAH WELLS:

ARREST DATE: MARCH 26, 2011
Full Name: Sarah Marie Wells
Date:03/26/2011
Arresting Agency: SDPD - SOUTH DAYTONA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Arrest Age:30
Current Age: 36
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthdate: 11/21/1980
Block: 500 Reed Canal Rd
City: South Daytona, Florida 32119
Charges
#1 BATTERY (DV = DOMESTIC VIOLENCE)

ARREST DATE: NOVEMBER 14, 2011
Full Name: Sarah Marie Wells
Date:11/14/2011
Arresting Agency: EWPD - EDGEWATER POLICE
Arrest Age:30
Current Age: 36
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthdate: 11/21/1980
Charges
#1 DOMESTIC BATTERY

ARREST DATE: JANUARY 9, 2013
Full Name: Sarah M Wells
Date:01/09/2013
Time: 1:59 AM
Arresting Agency: EWPD - EDGEWATER POLICE
Total Bond: $1500
Arrest Age:32
Current Age: 36
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthdate: 11/21/1980
Block: Sandhill Rd
City: Ballybunnion, Kerry
Charges
#1 BATTERY CAUSE BODILY HARM
STATUTE: 784.03(1)(a)2
BOND: $1500

ARREST DATE: DECEMBER 21, 2017
Full Name: Sarah M Wells
Date:12/21/2017
Time: 3:35 PM
Arresting Agency: EWPD - EDGEWATER POLICE
Total Bond: $5000
Arrest Age:37
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthdate: 11/21/1980
Block: 300 Berry St
City: San Francisco, California 94158
Charges
#1 FELONY CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
STATUTE: 828.12(2)(a)
BOND: $5000

ARREST DATE: JANUARY 12, 2018
Full Name: Sarah M Wells
Date:01/12/2018
Time: 12:00 PM
Arresting Agency: VCSO - VOLUSIA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Total Bond: $5000
Arrest Age:37
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthdate: 11/21/1980
Block: 300 Berry St
City: San Francisco, California 94158
Charges
#1 BATTERY
STATUTE: 784.03(1)(a)
BOND: $5000

IF YOU LIVE IN THIS AREA, CALL JUDGE FEIGENBAUM'S OFFICE AND LET THEM KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS SENTENCE:

Judge Bryan A. Feigenbaum
Division 80
125 E. Orange Avenue
Daytona Beach, FL  32114
Phone (386) 257-6074
Fax (386) 248-8136

Volusia County Court Judge Bryan A. Feigenbaum was appointed to the bench in 2010. Before becoming a judge, he was an assistant state attorney for the Office of the State Attorney, Seventh Judicial Circuit. Judge Feigenbaum earned an undergraduate degree from Davidson College and juris doctor from the University of Florida. He currently hears criminal cases and presides over Veterans Court at the Volusia County Courthouse Annex at City Island in Daytona Beach.

(News Journal Online - Feb 22, 2018)

Rhode Island: Korina Ferreira, 40, Charged with Animal Cruelty for the 2nd time after dead and live animals found suffering inside filthy home

RHODE ISLAND -- A woman faces 17 charges of unnecessary animal cruelty after authorities removed 17 dogs from a building in Woonsocket, where police also found 16 live chickens, a dead pig, a dead chicken and a dead bird, according to the Woonsocket police.

Korina Ferreira, 40, of 68 Etna St., Fall River, was charged after the police went to a house at 36 Cottage Street for a report of an animal problem and found the 17 dogs, including eight 3-week-old puppies, in a second-floor apartment with feces covering the floor and an overwhelming smell of urine, according to a police statement. 

The building had no running water or electricity.

Conditions in the building were “uninhabitable to animals or humans,” said E.J. Finocchio, president of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which sent two investigators to the property. Finocchio said one of those investigators told him “it was the worst situation he has faced in the eight years he’s been doing animal cruelty investigations, and we’ve seen some bad ones.”

The police were called to the address at about 7 p.m. by a neighbor who’d reporting seeing “a dog on the roof of the property,” according to a statement from Woonsocket Patrol Officer Steven A. Langevin.

“Upon arrival I observed what appeared to be a barking dog on a landing directly outside a window on the second floor of 36 Cottage St.,” Langevin wrote.

The neighbor told the police she thought the building had been abandoned because she hadn’t seen anyone there for more than a year, and Langevin wrote that police dispatch informed him that the address was on the city’s vacant building list. He also found a notice from National Grid on the first-floor front door informing the second-floor occupants that the electricity had been shut off.

Walking around the residence, Langevin saw two dogs poking their heads out a second-floor window. He also saw evidence that somebody had been living there.

“As I looked into the windows of the first floor, I observed what appeared to be feces and massive amounts of clutter within the apartment,” he wrote. “I could clearly hear the sounds of multiple dogs barking from the second floor apartment.”

When nobody inside the house answered their calls, the police decided to enter the building because of their concern for the welfare of the animals. As they were trying to get inside, Ferreira arrived. She told the police that she “sometimes” lived on the second floor. She said her mother owned the property.

Ferreira entered the building with police officers. When Ferreira moved a refrigerator that had been blocking the living room, “approximately 7 dogs came running out of the living room, stampeding towards Police,” Langevin wrote. “The dogs appeared to be extremely dirty and covered in filth, urine and fecal matter,” Langevin wrote.

“I observed one dog bite into a gallon of water as it drank from it frantically,” Langevin wrote.

Most of the dogs appeared to be “pit bull-type” dogs, according to Finocchio.

Some of the dogs ran into the backyard, according to Woonsocket Sgt. Sean A. Carpenter.

“The dogs immediately started looking for water and started drinking from pools of water from various pieces of trash in the yard,” Carpenter said. He said some of the dogs appeared skinny, they did not have any apparent injuries.

According to Carpenter, Ferreira told the police that she’d been keeping her animals in the house since summer until she could find new housing for themr. She told the police she brought water to them nightly.

The dogs were taken to three different shelters — North Smithfield, Woonsocket and Warwick — according to Finocchio.

Ferreira was arrested late Thursday night and arraigned in District Court, Providence, on Friday morning, where she pleaded not guilty to the charges, which are all misdemeanors.

She was ordered held on $15,000 with surety and ordered to undergo pretrial services including mental health counseling. She is to have no contact with animals. It’s unclear whether she posted bonded.

REPEAT OFFENDER
Ferreira was sent to prison on previous animal cruelty charges. In that case, she was convicted of intentionally starving her American Bulldog named Pebbles.

What Pebbles looked like when seized

Pebbles, at a healthy weight

(Providence Journal - March 30, 2018)

Earlier:

• Rhode Island: Korina Ferreira sentenced to 1-1/2 years in jail for intentionally starving her dog

Connecticut: Woman's Pit Bull attacked by her neighbor's Pit Bull

CONNECTICUT -- Nikki Johnson is with Ivette Vega at Waterbury Veterinary Hospital. February 15, 2018 · Waterbury, CT ·

Omfg our dog Gizmo was fucking attacked by my neighbor's pit bull. Like seriously?? My poor papa. At the vet now. I hope he is ok. 😭😭😭😭😭 he got some wounds and he is in shock. I feel so bad for him. My baby he is so old and he was minding his business. N the dog ran up on him and just attacked him..

New York: Reynaldo Bonilla, 40, accused of cockfighting, abusing animals

ISLIP, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK -- Police searching for drugs at a home in New York discovered more than 60 caged roosters, a mistreated pit bull, a pheasant and equipment used to stage illegal cockfighting matches.

Officers called in the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and arrested 40-year-old Reynaldo Bonilla, who was to be arraigned on charges including animal cruelty.

The roosters were trained for cockfighting and will have to be euthanized, because they can't be rehabilitated and were likely injected with steroids and other chemicals, Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross said.

Why can dog fighting Pit Bulls supposedly be "rehabilitated", but a chicken can't? Answer: Pit Bull lobbyists.

Also stored on the property were a fighting ring, razor blade-like spurs that are attached to the roosters when they fight and "little boxing gloves" that protect the birds when they train, he said.

"The call it a blood sport," Gross said. Spectators who bet on the fights "want to see the birds cutting each other, seeing the blood, and generally they bleed out. It's barbaric. They generally fight to the death," he said.

Investigators haven't determined if fights were staged at the property, or if the birds were only being housed there in the hamlet of Brentwood on Long Island, he added.

The name of Bonilla's attorney wasn't immediately available. If convicted, he will be placed on an animal abuse registry that allows authorities to track his whereabouts.

(ABC7NY - February 11, 2018)

Florida: Judge said exigent circumstances didn't exist when police seized abused Pit Bulls suspected of being used in dog fights; orders dogs returned to suspected abusers

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA — Nearly two dozen pit bulls seized last year by Daytona Beach police on suspicion they were being used for fighting were returned to their owners after a judge determined the animals were confiscated without a warrant.

County Judge Angela Dempsey threw out the city’s petition to take custody of the animals after the court determined police violated Noble Geathers’ Fourth Amendment rights when they illegally searched his property at 225 Reva Street on Nov. 2 and unlawfully confiscated 23 dogs.

The raid on the house and the confiscation of the dogs have not been made public by police. Callers from the community to The Daytona Beach News-Journal this month expressed concern that several dogs treated at the Halifax Humane Society had been returned to their owners.

A News-Journal public records request to the Daytona Beach Police Department on Wednesday about the seizure of the dogs was responded to with two reports, one about animal abuse and the other about a stolen car. The names of the suspects and the details of what happened were completely blacked out on the provided reports.

“This is still under investigation, but as soon as it’s ready we will release,” Lyda Longa, police spokeswoman, said in an email. “This is a sensitive investigation ... it can’t be jeopardized.”

But Volusia County court records reveal the details of the case including a Humane Society veterinarian’s report and photos, and Dempsey’s ruling that police should have had a warrant when they entered the property.

Police Chief Craig Capri said on Thursday that although the judge gave back the dogs, the case is still open and investigators are working on filing criminal charges on Geathers, 50.

Because it is an active criminal investigation, Capri contends his agency does not have to release the narrative in the reports.

He said his officers did the right thing that day — and didn’t need a warrant.

“Dog fighting is inhumane and is a very serious offense,” Chief Capri said. “We owed it to the dogs to seize them and protect them from the owner who is irresponsible.

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” Chief Capri added.

Looking for a stolen car

Detailed court documents, complete with photos, show police went to the Reva Street home to recover a stolen car on Nov. 2.

When officers got to the home and entered the fenced backyard, they saw numerous dogs, some in kennels, that appeared neglected.

Even a breeding device, which the veterinarian’s report referred to as a “rape stand,” was found in the backyard, a police report states.

Police made contact with Geathers, who said he was the owner of the 23 dogs, court documents show. Geathers told police he had been breeding the animals.

Geathers’ wife, Tiera Geathers, 33, arrived at the home shortly after and she also said the dogs belonged to them, investigators said.

Noble and Tiera Geathers could not be reached this week, and a man who answered the door Thursday at 225 Reva said the couple no longer lives there.

Thanks to the judge not believing that exigent circumstances existed to seize the dog, NOBLE GEATHERS and TIERA GEATHERS are not facing charges in either the case about the abused dogs or the stolen car.

In the November incident, animal control officers were called to the home after 23 American Staffordshire terriers (aka pit bulls), 15 of which were adult dogs, were found in the backyard, documents state.

A 4-month-old puppy and seven newborn pups were found, and another six adult dogs and a 1-month-old puppy were in heavy chains, police said.

Eight other dogs — seven puppies and their mother — were held in cages, the floors covered with feces. None of the dogs had food. All but two of the dogs that were chained did not have water. And two had water that was filled with debris and dirt, investigators said.

Besides tight collars that had made abrasions on the dogs’ necks, some of the dogs had puncture scars focused on their faces, necks and forelimbs, “despite being housed separately.” The animals also had untreated open wounds and some of them were malnourished, court documents state.

Investigators also found paraphernalia on the property that is consistent in the use of breeding and dog fighting, court records state.

A large weight scale, empty cans of Scarlex wound dressing spray, an empty syringe and heavy chains with O rings were located. Those items and the rape stand for forced and controlled breeding are signs of dog fighting, police said.

Treated at the shelter

Daytona Beach Animal Control Officers removed the 23 dogs from the home and placed them in the care of the Halifax Humane Society, records show.

City officials on Nov. 13 filed in court to keep custody of the dogs seized from the Geatherses after the veterinarian’s determination the dogs’ wounds and scars were “consistent with dogs that have been fought.”

Ormond Beach animal advocate Katie Williams contacted The News-Journal after learning the dogs had been returned to their owners.

“It’s just crazy,” said Katie Williams, of Ormond Beach, who said she visits shelters and rescues dogs to adopt out on her own.

Williams said she heard about the dogs at a Christmas party and said it made her emotional when she learned they were back with the owners.

“There needs to be some protocol. The Humane Society should work on finding a way to prevent them from sending back these dogs to the hell they came from,” Williams said. “There needs to be better legislation to protect these defenseless animals.”

Barry Kukes, Halifax Humane Society spokesman, would only confirm that his organization cared for the dogs and said they were complying with a judge’s order when the canines were returned to the owners.

Dempsey threw out the city’s case after a hearing, stating that police violated the Geatherses’ Fourth Amendment U.S. constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, and he gave the couple back its dogs.

According to the Dec. 18 court order dismissing the case, the confiscation of the dogs was illegal and “all evidence derived therefrom is the fruit of the poisonous tree and cannot be used against (the Geatherses).”

The judge in her order stated that police officers entered the fenced property with the intent to search and made no attempt to knock on the door, nor did they attempt to get a search warrant.

Even after police removed the stolen vehicle and saw the dogs, no effort was made by police to get a warrant. There was no testimony that there were concerning smells or dogs in distress. Police body-cam video showed that the area was quiet and the dogs were mostly friendly and energetic when approached, the court order states.

Dempsey’s order states the Geatherses had a legitimate expectation of privacy given that they had a fenced backyard, which was invaded.

POLICE CHIEF SAYS EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES EXISTED

Capri disagrees. The chief said all the evidence on the scene indicated the dogs were used for fighting. Capri said the officers went to the Reva Street home to get a stolen car they had seen in the yard and discovered the dogs in horrible conditions.

“I didn’t need a warrant to seize the dogs. We had animals that needed medical attention,” Capri said. “There were dogs that had signs of dog fighting. Some of them were all scarred. Others were bleeding and had open wounds and not well cared for.”

Capri said his officers did their jobs and still believes the animals were used for dog fighting but that they have to abide by the judge’s ruling. Noble Geathers has a lengthy arrest record that includes at least one drug conviction, state records show.

“We did the right thing. We did our best to protect those dogs by removing them and putting them in protective custody,” Capri said. “All the evidence, the paraphernalia, found at the property showed there was dog fighting going on there.”

Name: Noble Geathers
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 04/29/1967
Arrest date: 04/17/2011
Booking Number: 846365
Location: Volusia County, Florida
Charges:
DRIVING W/LICENSE CANCELED SUSPENDED/REVOKED
DRIVING WITHOUT A DRIVER'S LICENSE

Name: Noble Geathers
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 04/29/1967
Arrest date: 07/19/2014
Charges:
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT (FIREARM)
POSSESSION OF CANNABIS NOT MORE THAN 20 GRAMS

His son, Noble Geathers, won $500,000 on a scratch-off lottery ticket in March 2013. It was an opportunity for a better life. Instead, it appears he squandered it as he has arrests on his record less than 3 months later.

Noble Geathers has reason to smile. After all, it's not every day that a 19-year-old kid pockets half a million bucks. At least before taxes, any way.

The 2011 Daytona State College graduate claimed his $500,000 prize in the Gold Rush Tripler Scratch-Off game at Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee earlier this week.

Geathers purchased his winning ticket at the Pearson Food Store, 517 Mary Mcleod Bethune Blvd., in Daytona Beach.

The $20 Scratch-Off game, Gold Rush Tripler, offers better odds of winning $30 to $500, compared to previous Gold Rush Tripler games, and the best odds ever to win $500,000, according to lottery officials.

Name: Noble Geathers
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 10/25/1993
Arrest date: 07/03/2013
FLEEING OR ATTEMPTING TO ELUDE
DRIVING WITHOUT A DRIVER'S LICENSE

Name: Noble Geathers
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 10/25/1993
Arrest date: 04/01/2015
FLEEING OR ATTEMPTING TO ELUDE

(Theintell.com - Feb. 2, 2018)

New Mexico: Thirteen-time convicted felon Shaun Anaya will spend at least 8 months in jail for beating and torturing a puppy with power tools

NEW MEXICO -- This afternoon, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that Shaun Anaya, who was on probation for an Office of the Attorney General case and is a thirteen-time convicted felon, was found by Second Judicial District Judge Angela Jewell to have violated his probation for committing extreme cruelty to animals and possession of marijuana.

The Office of Attorney General Hector Balderas asked Judge Jewell to impose the maximum penalty of 1,421 days in prison which included habitual enhancements.

Anaya was sentenced to two years in the Department of Corrections for the violations.

Likely he'll only serve a 1/3 of that "with good behavior" so assume he'll be out in 8 months' time.

 

"Violence against animals is so many times directly linked to domestic violence and can never be discounted," said Attorney General Balderas. "My office is committed to holding violent, repeat offenders accountable."

Shaun Anaya was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty in June of 2017 when he was accused of brutally beating and mutilating a Pit Bull puppy with power tools in the backseat of his car on June 1, 2017, leaving the three-month-old dog bloody, with a broken tooth and other injuries.

Anaya has denied hurting the puppy, claiming a group of kids injured it.

“I know you’re telling me you didn’t, but all of the evidence, physical testimony, eye-witness, ear-witness says that this happened, “said Judge Jewell.

HORRIFIC DETAILS FROM THE POLICE REPORT:

On June 1, 2017, at approximately 2358 hours (1158pm), I was dispatched to the alley just south of ______ in response to a call about an animal.

Caller advised he could see an individual beating his dog in a vehicle. He could see the individual hitting the dog and throwing it around the vehicle. While en route, Dispatch advised that the caller could still hear the dog screaming.

Further remarks just as I was arriving advised the man was standing at the rear of the vehicle with the tailgate up and the caller could hear a power tool.

I arrived and parked just west of the alley and approached on foot.

From approximately 40 feet away I saw a man, later identified as SHAUN ANAYA, standing at the tailgate of a vehicle with the tailgate open. He was moving his hands and appeared to be working on something in the tailgate.

I heard a dog yelping and screaming in agony. I began walking towards him and got within 30 feet and could see he was doing something to a small dog.

I shined my flashlight at him and he quickly stopped what he was doing and started trying to clean up the area. As soon as he stopped the dog immediately stopped yelping.

Shaun said, "Can you get your flashlight out of my face?"

I observed blood on several areas of the dog's fur. I observed blood all over the carpeted area in the rear of the car and smeared on the inside of the back right window. I observed dog feces in several areas of the back of the vehicle and on a power saw on the blade and on the handle.

The passenger door was open and I observed blood on the seat and blood smeared on the door. There was fresh blood spatter all over the dash. I observed the small puppy had swollen eyes and was very sluggish. I observed blood in his mouth and saw he had a broken tooth on the right side of his mouth.

I spoke with the caller, Derrick Sanders, who told me he was woken up by a dog yelping. He looked out his window and observed SHAUN ANAYA outside the open front passenger door. He was punching the dog who was in the front passenger seat repeatedly. He then threw the dog to the rear of the vehicle. He walked back to the rear and the dog started yelping again. At this time, Derrick heard what sounded like a power tool being started in the rear of the vehicle. Shortly after this I arrived and confronted SHAUN ANAYA.

(Grant County Beat - January 31, 2018)

Earlier:

• New Mexico: Convicted felon Shaun Anaya, 40, accused of torturing a Pit Bull puppy with a power saw
• New Mexico: Attorney General asks judge to sentence con man Shaun Anaya to prison for alleged puppy torture and abuse

New York: Caciem Kruer, 20, charged with abandoning injured dog on Long Island street corner

NEW YORK -- A Long Island man was slapped with animal cruelty charge for throwing a dog out of his car, authorities said Saturday.

Caciem Kruer, of Brentwood, was arrested Friday and charged with animal abandonment and failure to provide proper veterinary car, the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said.

Kruer, 20, was spotted dumping a 2-year-old black pit bull named Creed onto Elmhurst St. near Washington Ave. in Holtsville around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 18, cops said.

After he ditched the dog, Kruer drove off.

A witness immediately called police who took Creed to a local animal hospital to be treated, authorities said.

The pit bull was covered in blood and had a cut on his paw, SPCA officials said.

Kruer, if convicted, faces up to a year in prison and or a $1000 fine for each charge.

(ABC7NY - January 28, 2018)

Indiana: For weeks, convicted felon Lemontrae Bible, 24, beat a tiny puppy, breaking multiple bones, say police

INDIANA -- A man has been arrested and charged with severely beating a 4-month-old puppy so badly that he broke multiple bones.

Lemontrae Bible, 24, was arrested Friday at a home on N. Kenyon Street.

According to police reports, Bible was charged as part of an investigation into animal abuse where a 4-month-old puppy was beaten severely.

Bible’s girlfriend, Holly Brand, says he started hurting the puppy shortly after she got it for her daughter.

“He had pistol whipped her and actually had a broken tooth,” said Brand.

She says the abuse started after the puppy had an accident in their home.

“I didn’t really think it was that bad – I didn’t want to believe it. I don’t know. I should have stepped up more sooner,” said Brand.

Officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department found the puppy while responding a house on N. Kenyon Street.

The puppy, named Halsey, is being cared for by Zionsville-based rescue Every Dog Counts. The group shared some of Halsey’s story on their page Thursday, along with a link to raise money for her care and recovery.

Halsey was so abused that she suffered extensive jaw and head fractures, broken bones and had to have a tube inserted so that she could get nutrients while she recovers.

“Her abuser left her with multiple skull fractures, a broken jaw, multiple broken ribs and a badly broken forearm,” the rescue posted on their Facebook page. “She sat like this for days, with no help or pain relief before she was found and rescued.”

 

 

Halsey went in for surgery on Thursday, according to the rescue, to try to save her leg, which was broken completely in two.

“Through the process of multiple diagnostic tests, we’ve realized that this has probably been going on for a while – more than one incident,” said Dr. Johnny Cross, Medical Director, VCA Advanced Veterinary Care.

“It is simply not fair for life to have been so brutal and painful for this baby,” the rescue posted.

If you would like to donate to Halsey’s care you can visit the Every Dog Counts Rescue Facebook page and click “donate” under Halsey’s story.

The rescue will also help find Halsey find her forever home when she’s fully recovered and ready to be adopted.

Bible is charged with animal cruelty and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.

INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS:
Name: Lemontrae Kimoni Bible
Gender: Male
Race: Black
Date of Birth: 6/29/1993
Age: 24 years old

Date of Sentence: 08/01/2013
Description: DEALING IN COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Bond: $50,000
Term: 2 years
Type of conviction: Felony
County of conviction: Marion, Indiana
Projected release date: 05/25/2014

Arrest date: 10/12/2013
Charge:
POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA OR HASH/MA
Case #: 49G20-1310-CM-067119

Date of Sentence: 03/12/2014
Description: POSSESSION OF COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Term: 2 years, 1 day
Type of conviction: Felony
County of conviction: Marion, Indiana
Projected release date: 02/09/2016

(FOX43 - January 28, 2018)