Georgia man sentenced to almost 500 years for dogfighting : NPR

A Georgia man was sentenced to 475 years in jail for facilitating dogfights, an eye-popping punishment that prosecutors hope will draw consideration to a follow they are saying remains to be widespread.

A jury discovered Vincent Lemark Burrell, 57, responsible of 93 counts of dogfighting and 10 counts of cruelty to animals after a four-day trial final week, the Paulding District Lawyer’s Workplace said in a release.

The decide sentenced him to the utmost on every of these 103 counts, to be served consecutively, stated Jessica Rock, the state animal crimes useful resource prosecutor with the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council.

“I am fairly plugged in with the those who deal with these circumstances each nationally and internationally,” she instructed NPR. “And we do consider that that is the best and longest sentence in a dogfighting case on the planet.”

NPR has reached out to the regulation agency representing Burrell, who was booked into custody on Thursday, in line with county records.

Dogfighting includes breeding, conditioning and coaching canines to combat for spectator leisure and revenue, in line with the Humane Society of the U.S. Fights sometimes occur in a pit and common one to 2 hours, “ending when one of many canines can’t proceed.”

It’s a felony offense beneath federal regulation and against the law in all 50 states. It should be investigated and prosecuted as such, Chief Marshal Trevor Hess stated after Burrell’s sentencing final week.

“The typical particular person does not notice how prevalent dogfighting nonetheless is,” he stated. “However the extra we speak about this difficulty and educate the general public, the extra folks will perceive that canines aren’t ‘simply’ property, and you can not deal with them on this manner.”

What authorities discovered 

The case dates again to November 2022, when regulation enforcement responded to a grievance from an Amazon driver who was involved concerning the welfare of a number of canines he noticed chained to fence posts in Burrell’s yard.

Officers arrived at Burrell’s property in Dallas, Ga., — some 30 miles west of Atlanta — to seek out 107 canines, principally pit bulls, in what the sheriff’s office called “numerous levels of existence.”

“A few of the canines have been emaciated, whereas others have been robust and intensely aggressive towards different canines,” it stated on the time. “The unhappy half is that the overwhelming majority of those animals simply craved the love and a spotlight of the Deputies and Detectives that have been on the scene.”

The canines have been tied up close to one another however out of attain — a tactic used to construct aggression — and didn’t have entry to meals, water or veterinary care. Some have been housed within the basement of the house, the place the sheriff’s workplace stated the odor of urine and feces was so robust that authorities needed to put on protecting gear simply to have the ability to safely enter.

“Circumstances the place canines have been being housed, each inside and on the outside of this property, weren’t match for people, a lot much less canines,” it stated.

Authorities additionally discovered a wide range of gadgets related to dogfighting on the property, the DA’s workplace stated, together with a rooster that was used to “entice” the canines, a treadmill designed for canines, a breeding stand, a break stick (for prying canines’ jaws open throughout fights) and a package generally used to deal with canines after fights.

Additionally they discovered paperwork linking Burrell’s canines to different identified dogfighters and contracts for the sale of particular canines. Rock stated regulation enforcement collected much more proof by means of drone flyovers and approved searches of Burrell’s telephone and social media posts.

Burrell was arrested at his house for his position in what authorities known as a “huge dogfighting operation.”

He took the stand throughout his trial and denied being concerned in dogfighting, Rock stated.

What occurred to the canines 

A veterinarian who examined the canines that November day discovered that some had rashes round their necks from their collars, scarring patterns according to dogfighting and enamel that had been forcibly faraway from their mouths.

Federal authorities obtained a warrant to take custody of the canines, who have been ultimately positioned with a number of rescue services to start rehabilitation.

Dogfighting canines should endure important temperament testing and coaching, explains Rock, the state and federal animal crimes prosecutor. She stated they’re sometimes aggressive in the direction of different canines however very pleasant in the direction of people.

“Imagine it or not, plenty of them — the vast majority of them — find yourself turning into adoptable,” she added. “So we’ve got a fairly excessive adoption price in some of these circumstances after the very fact.”

One specific canine has stolen the hearts of many concerned within the case: a pet who was on the property as authorities executed their search warrant who has since been named Child Shark.

Rock (pictured with Child Shark) says many canines rescued from dogfighting rings are ultimately match for adoption.

Jessica Rock

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Jessica Rock

“She type of turned our emotional assist canine on scene, as a result of we have been clearly seeing plenty of issues that the typical particular person does not must see,” Rock stated. “Everyone simply fell in love together with her. It took us three or 4 days … to get all of those canines processed off the scene … she even slept within the automobile, I believe, with a few of the regulation enforcement who manned the crime scene.”

Child Shark went to an area pitbull rescue the place she labored by means of behavioral points and underwent therapy for rickets, a bone illness brought on by malnutrition. She is now obtainable for adoption. And he or she was within the courtroom for the sentencing, sporting an enormous grin.

“Folks at all times ask me, ‘How do you do that? You are such an animal lover, how do you operate with out going insane?’ ” Rock stated. “And truthfully, it is tales like this … the place I get to see the nice facet of humanity and I get to see the individuals who assist these canines after they’ve endured some kind of trauma or lived some horrible life. And so I maintain on to these good tales, and Child Shark is considered one of them.”

What might be performed about dogfighting

Whereas dogfighting and associated arrests do not typically make headlines, Rock says they’re fairly frequent.

Final February, the U.S. Justice Division charged 14 men from Georgia, Florida and Alabama for collaborating in a 2022 dogfight. In 2024, males in Maryland and Massachusetts have been amongst those that pleaded responsible to federal dogfighting prices, and a former prime Division of Protection official was sentenced to 18 months in federal jail for his involvement in a “multi-state dogfighting conspiracy.”

Dogfighting can occur anyplace, however is very prevalent within the rural South due to the house and climate circumstances wanted to accommodate canines outdoors on a regular basis, Rock defined.

“It is arduous for me to actually put a quantity on this,” she provides. “All I can let you know is that there is solely so many people on this nation that do that work full time, and we can’t sustain.”

She says folks may help in their very own communities by paying consideration, just like the Amazon driver did on this case.

The Humane Society of the U.S. encourages folks to report something suspicious, like a number of pit bulls chained up close to one another, canines with scars on their faces, dogfighting gear (like treadmills and break sticks) or uncommon foot site visitors at odd hours. It additionally urges individuals who dwell in states the place being a spectator at a dogfight remains to be a misdemeanor to foyer their legislators to make it a felony.

Rock says there’s way more dogfighting consciousness amongst state and nationwide regulation enforcement now than when she began doing this work 20 years in the past, however extra must be performed to coach the general public.

“I believe the extra we speak about it, the extra we convey consciousness to it, the extra we’ll have the ability to in the end, hopefully get folks to know that in 2025, we’re simply not going to tolerate this,” she stated. “You do not deal with animals this fashion. You simply do not.”