Dogs Found Shot In Head At South Carolina Landfill, Animal Control Officers Accused

CHESTERFIELD, S.C. -- Animal rescuers in South Carolina said Saturday that they have found two dogs believed to be from a local shelter shot in the head and buried at a landfill, and they suspect there may be more.

Whitney Knowlton, founder of Last Chance Animal Rescue Fund, said the two dogs were found Friday at a landfill. She said she believes that the dogs were from the county-run shelter and that they were killed by animal control officers.

Chesterfield County Sheriff Sam Parker told WSOC-TV, which first reported the story, that his office is investigating. A message left with a dispatcher for the sheriff's office by The Associated Press was not immediately returned Saturday morning. The sheriff's office oversees animal control.

"We've got nothing at all to hide here," Parker told WSOC. "We're doing interviews, and we'll get to the bottom of it."

Knowlton said rescuers who regularly work with the shelter in Chesterfield, S.C., were first tipped off by an inmate working there. Some inmates working at the shelter had been saying that dogs were being taken off-site and weren't coming back, Knowlton said. One told a rescuer working with the shelter that dogs were being taken to the landfill and being shot.

"He was so unnerved by it," Knowlton said.

When that allegation was made, fellow rescuer Debbie Farhi grabbed a shovel and started digging at the landfill, Farhi said. She found one dog with fresh blood on it that had been shot in the head, then dug up another. At that point, Knowlton said, Farhi was told by animal control officers to leave.

Knowlton said activists want the state Law Enforcement Division to investigate the dead dogs.

Comments

[AlxAlxdr]

11:54 AM on 03/18/2011

They were probably told to do so as a cost effective way of dealing with the dogs. Bullets should be accounted for when it comes to police.

[Evil Twin Rove]

12:37 PM on 03/17/2011

why am I not surprised that this happened in South Carolina?

[Kristi Dunn]

03:34 PM on 03/13/2011

So animal control can tell you to leave the landfill? Now the Sheriff who oversees the animal control facility will investigate? I am sure there will be no justice for these dogs!

[valluhree]

05:43 PM on 03/10/2011

Disgusting.

[Spiral Architect]

03:27 PM on 03/10/2011

Despicable humans who I hope have Karma bite them back one day..

[lrobb]

10:09 AM on 03/10/2011

Chesterfield is the next county up the road from me, and our little cocker spaniel came from that shelter courtesy of an animal rescue organization.

She had been dropped off in their pen in the middle of the night with three of her half-grown puppies. She was pregnant with another litter.

Chesterfield is a poor county with an incredibly high unemployment rate. The county council and SLED are investigating the charges, but their #1 option at the moment, due to lack of funds, is closing the shelter completely. Welcome to a return to the era of tying a new litter in a sack and drowning it in the creek.

The answer is agressive spaying and neutering of all pets which are not going to be shown in AKC sanctioned events. Unfortunately, these are expensive procedures. Even chemical euthanasia is more expensive than a bullet.

Sorry, and it distresses me more than you can possibly know, but in an era of scarcity of funds, we will have to get used to a level of barbarity experienced by our grandparents.

[bcmom]

10:40 PM on 03/10/2011

Your area is not alone. Most rural areas have no money to feed animals much less run a shelter. My understanding is that these dogs were at animal control. Most animal controls are supported by taxpayer dollars. If that is the case, taxpayers should make their views known. It is impossible to convince people to s/n even if they have the money and if they do not have the money forget it. It is just one litter after another. In order to get to poor areas, mobile s/n clinics are needed. For many ACs and public shelters killing is an everyday process. These so called purebreds people find from puppymills through middle men i.e. petstores and the internet should not be bred. The majority are inbred and have minor/major health problems and diseases which make them very expensive to own. We rescued a purebred retriever from the pound and sent him to a purebred rescue. The poor guy could not walk. We had to put a towel around his backend. He was taken to the vet and had to be euthanized because his hips were so deformed and twisted. So why couldn't the owners had him humanely euthanized instead of dumping him at AC and to die in agony on a concrete floor? I am sure they paid a petstore or internet seller enough for him. So the animals continue to pay with their lives because of greed and people making impulse buys.

[Kristi Dunn]

03:39 PM on 03/13/2011

You are right! I have had Cocker Spaniels all of my life. I would never turn to buying one from a breeder. Mine have all been rescued from the shelter by non-profit Cocker rescues. In this day and age you can pretty much get any type of purebred dog from a rescue. The puppy mills should not be in business! My kids from the rescues have been the loves of my life!

[butchcliff]

09:14 AM on 03/10/2011

And they're getting paid for their job? It's disgusting.

[European1919]

05:42 AM on 03/10/2011

Why are "inmates" working in a dog rescue station? What sort of inmates? The nuthouse or gaol? And who is shooting the dogs? Rescuers? The police? The inmates?

Apart from the central "fact" that some piece of human dross is killing dogs this article seems to be very confused.

[bcmom]

10:41 PM on 03/10/2011

Inmates are used to clean the kennels. They are used at a lot of animal controls due to money issues. Inmates would not be doing the shooting.

[European1919]

02:11 AM on 03/11/2011

Thank you for clearing that up for a dumb European. (People here in this section are generally more helpful than over in politcs - that is full of bigoted know-alls.)

Are they chained up and guarded by screws with pump-action shot guns? We should have that over here. Prisoners over here complain cos they're not allowed to vote while costing the tax payer a load of money. And the stupid EU is supporting them in their "rights"! At least those lazy so-and-sos are making some sort of positive contribution to society over your way as it seems.

[rustysc]

08:22 PM on 03/09/2011

The real story is, there were 22 shot dogs found buried. I had a very strong feeling it was somebody from animal control, due to overcrowding at the shelter. A very sad result for those animals and an even sadder comment about SC.

[mistlesuede]

09:53 PM on 03/09/2011

As if SC needs any more sad comment. Disgusting.

[rustysc]

10:09 PM on 03/09/2011

Your absolutely correct and I agree.

[lrobb]

10:16 AM on 03/10/2011

Most counties in SC are going to the "no kill" shelter model as is the one where I live which just re-located to a new multi-million dollar facility.

Chesterfield, one county up the road from me, is extremely poor with a sinking tax base. Their county council is considering completely closing the shelter due to lack of funds.

[rustysc]

12:15 PM on 03/10/2011

Hopefully, they will farm the animals to other shelters. I live in Horry county and I think one of the biggest problems of adoption, is the price you have to pay to adopt. They are so over-loaded with animals, but they charge really high prices. We wanted to adopt a small dog and ended up buying from a private pedigree breeder of dogs because it was actually cheaper than the shelter. Sad commentary on SC shelters. They would be able to adopt many more pets if they lowered their prices.

[bcmom]

08:15 PM on 03/09/2011

It is so much easier to shoot an animal than to pick up the telephone, look on a phone list, and call the nearest rescuer and ask "hey, might you want to come and take a look and see how many you can take." That is way too much work. Or, how about, even considering adopting them out, at least try and give them a second chance, again that is way too much work. It is so much easier to take a gun and play target practice with living creatures. However, this goes on everyday in this country.

[mzrecycle]

09:14 AM on 03/10/2011

I'm in no way condoning the act of shooting dogs, but I wonder if you are aware of the area where this happened. Chesterfield is a small town in a state that, other than some metropolitan areas, is mostly poor. In the rural areas, spay and neuter is not considered the normal thing to do. In rural areas, it's accepted that your dog can run free, or be chained up all the time.
In my area in another state, there have been efforts to improve such practices. But in small rural towns, it's still a challenge to get some to get "onboard". I hope that this situation can help in the effort.

[lrobb]

10:17 AM on 03/10/2011

Thank you, from a SC resident in the next county down from Chesterfield.

[Toddynho]

04:24 PM on 03/09/2011

South Carolina?

Is ANYONE really surprised?

[mistlesuede]

09:53 PM on 03/09/2011

No.

[LunaPark]

10:23 PM on 03/08/2011

WTF is wrong with these people. I hope they get thrown in jail and become someone's punk.

[SitandStay]

07:39 PM on 03/08/2011

What do you expect from a red state?
I hope the inmates are given protective custody. The inmates aren't the criminals in this case! Bless them for telling someone.

[dkinton49]

03:00 PM on 03/09/2011

What do you expect from a red state? Your statement is inane and show you are not capable of intelligent comments. Log off and put away the keyboard!

[SitandStay]

12:42 AM on 03/10/2011

Freud would have something to say about that photo.

[Clare53]

06:19 PM on 03/08/2011

Stories like this just make me feel sick. If it's true that animal control officers did this it's horrifying. Something is very wrong with people who have the means to put dogs to sleep and shoot them instead. I can't even imagine how horrible it would feel to shoot any living thing.

[FionaHeather]

07:05 PM on 03/08/2011

Please share this story with everyone you know. I live in the State of South Carolina and it is not being published in any newspapers in this state. The state does not want the rest of the U.S. to know what sick people live here. These behaviors are sick! These people should be in jail and they should be the ones who are neutered. The problem is that we should also demand the resignation of the County Sheriff and his whole staff. They knew this was going on and probably condoned it. This was done for sheer sport. If they are doing to this to animals, who only knows what they are doing to humans.

[lrobb]

10:22 AM on 03/10/2011

I don't know where you live, but I also live in SC and it is in every local newspaper and and is being followed by the local nes outlets.

[amaboss52]

06:02 PM on 03/08/2011

The dog population in every country is an overwhelming problem. The reason lies with humans. Spay and Neuter your pets, don't let them breed, adopt from a shelter instead of buying from a pet shop(puppy mill enabler). We created the problem we should all work together to solve it. I'm sure the people who had to shoot the dogs feel awful. If they don't they should be ashamed.

[Kristin Talbott]

06:33 PM on 03/08/2011

So if they feel awful, that makes it okay?

[amaboss52]

04:46 PM on 03/09/2011

So with you astute reading comprehension how did you get that out of what I posted. LOL!!

[mistlesuede]

09:57 PM on 03/09/2011

You are confused.

[LA2000]

06:40 PM on 03/08/2011

Local shelters know how to end an animal's life as humanely as possible. That does not involve releasing them in a landfill and filling them with fear as you shoot them for sport.

The people who did this knew it was wrong (disposed of the evidence, haven't come forward), did it for fun (went out of their way to execute these animals), and don't feel awful about it (did it more than once).

Although they might feel pretty sorry once they get caught.

[amaboss52]

07:00 PM on 03/08/2011

So what you took one line of my post not bothering to read the whole of it and what I was saying. How do you know how they felt? How do you know they enjoyed it? How do you know it was the same person each time? You don't. I have 4 dogs, 3 cats a turtle 2 frogs and a fish. I love animals and I loathe people who hurt them. But you don't know if the people who disposed of these dogs were under duress to complete the job. The threat of being fired will lead some people to do the dirty work especially now when they're are no jobs. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. And I don't know if you know but there are plenty of shelters out there that mistreat and abuse the animals under their care. Google it, you'll find out. My whole point was that the overpopulation is OUR fault not the dogs and not the shelters. Humans are the ones responsible for this cruelty in every way.