A Georgia man was sentenced to 475 years in prison for dog fighting and cruelty to animals after more than 100 pit bulls were found tied up in his backyard.
Vincent Lemark Burrell, 57, was found guilty of 103 counts, including 93 counts of dog fighting and 10 counts of cruelty to animals, following a four-day trial, the Paulding District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday, Jan. 30.
Police began investigating the case in November of 2022 after they were tipped off by an Amazon driver who saw multiple dogs tied up at Burrell’s Paulding County home.
“The dogs were chained close to each other but just out of reach, a tactic that serves to build dog aggression,” the DA’s office wrote in a press release.
When police arrived on Nov. 8, 2022, they found 107 dogs with heavy logging chains and thick collars tied to trees and mental stakes in the ground. The dogs had no access to food or water and were underweight or very underweight, authorities said.
Officers found gear linked to dog fighting on Burrell’s property, including a live chicken that was used to tempt the dogs, a dog treadmill and a breeding stand. They also found a break stick — a device used to force open the jaws of a dog during a fight — as well as papers linking Burrell to known dogfighters, a veterinary crash kit used to treat injured dogs after a fight, medication used only by licensed veterinarians, and contracts for the sale of dogs.
“Some of the dogs were housed in the basement of the home where the presence (along with the odor) of urine and feces was so strong, authorities had to wear protective equipment just to be able safely enter the home,” according to a press release from the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office. “Conditions where dogs were being housed, both inside and on the exterior of this property, were not fit for humans, much less dogs.
The dogs were examined by a veterinarian and found to have “rashes around their necks from their collars and scarring patterns consistent with dog fighting,” per the prosecutor’s press release. “Several of the dogs had teeth that had been forcibly removed from their mouth.”
The dogs were seized by the United States Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General and taken to a rescue organization.
“It is time as a society that we step up and stop the abuse and mistreatment of innocent animals,” prosecutor K.C. Pagnotta said. “Ordinary citizens can play a part in stopping the abuse of animals by recognizing signs of dog fighting and reporting concerns to law enforcement.”
Anyone with information about dog fighting in Paulding call 911 or, leave an anonymous tip at 770-443-3047 or via the Paulding Sheriff’s Office app.