WINNSBORO – When a Fairfield County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a call on Monday, March 2 in reference to an injured dog at a home on Cherry Road, a person at the home, Erica Beasley, 19, stated that someone had stolen one of her five dogs and injured two of them.
Beasley
Beasley said she last saw her all-white pit bull puppy and the two injured dogs about 4:30 p.m. on March 1. She said the dogs had no injuries at that time, the incident report stated.
Beasley then showed the deputy a cut zip tie and a cut electrical wire that she said had been used to hold the cages together. She reportedly told the deputy that someone had cut them off the cages and that a friend had advised her the missing puppy had been spotted at a residence in the neighborhood.
The deputy noticed a brown and white female pit bull lying on the ground behind a vehicle with several lacerations and dried blood on her leg, blood dripping from under her neck and blood mixed with saliva dripping from the dog’s mouth. The report stated that the dog could not move.
The deputy reported that he explained to Beasley that she could surrender the dog for medical treatment and later get the dog back once all expenses were paid, but that if the dog did not receive medical treatment, Beasley would be charged with animal cruelty. Beasley first hesitated, saying she was going to call someone to take her to get medical treatment for the dog, but finally signed the dog over to animal control, according to the report.
When animal control picked the dog up, the deputy said he observed brown liquid coming from a laceration on the back of the dog’s left leg.
Another dog, a grey and white pit bull, was then observed by the deputy to also have injuries. Its mouth was red and there were injuries to its face, the report stated.
At that point, a man approached the deputy and Beasley to say he had found a white put bull running around in the neighborhood and took him in. The man then returned the pit bull to the Cherry Road residence according to the report. The deputy reported that the dog had small lacerations under his neck but no major injuries.
The deputy said he noticed white hair around the bent chain link fence in the yard. He advised Beasley that if the veterinarian determined that the dogs were injured prior to March 1, that a warrant would be issued for her arrest.
The deputy stated that, before leaving two other uninjured pit bulls and the white pit bull in Beasley’s care, he observed that none of the dogs had clean drinking water.
According to the incident report, the veterinarian assistant stated that the injuries to the two dogs picked up appeared to have occurred three to five days earlier.
“When they were brought in, the dogs were undernourished, underweight and upon examination, our veterinarian, Dr. Chappell, determined that the injuries to the dogs were bite injuries. They were several days old and were infected,” Fairfield County Animal Control Director Bob Innes said.
Beasley was arrested on April 3 and charged with ill treatment to animals, 1st offense, a misdemeanor. She was released on $1,200 bond. The two dogs will be held at the Fairfield County Animal Shelter until Beasley’s court date, Innes said.
