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May 28, 2008 9:30 pm US/Central
DeSoto Investigates Animal Cruelty, Dog Fighting
DeSoto (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
A DeSoto man could face illegal dog fighting charges after his arrest for animal cruelty.
Kedrick Mackey was charged with animal cruelty after police found six pit bulls in his back yard in the 1400 block of Hubert Street and police said the dogs appeared to be malnourished.
"The dogs had cuts and scars and some were missing teeth and you could see their ribs coming through their skin," explained DeSoto Police Cpl. Ted May.
Animal control went to Mackey's house after a neighbor complained and officers seized the dogs and took them to a local shelter in neighboring Cedar Hill.
Mackey said the dogs are not malnourished and claimed the cuts and scars are the result of playful roughhousing.
"That's just the way the dogs play. I have a litter of pit bulls, and I can show you how they play," he said.
Mackey believes the City of DeSoto is targeting pit bulls for "no good reason" and said animal control is rounding up the breed at will.
Animal control, however, stressed the only time it seizes a dog is after they have received a complaint and they deem the animal dangerous.
"We are a call-driven agency, whether it's a Chihuahua or a basset hound, we treat all dogs the same as pit bulls," explained Charles Humphrey with DeSoto Code Services.
The City of DeSoto does not have an ordinance banning pit bulls but it has an aggressive policy regarding dangerous dogs.
Along with the cuts and scars police said they will talk to a witness who saw the dogs fighting.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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