Ten more pit bulls were found in a house where 96 pit bulls were found by hunters Wednesday on land south of Newkirk.
"They are in bad shape," Kay County Sheriff Dispatch Supervisor Joe Palmer said Thursday morning. "A veterinarian did go out there. On a scale of one to five – with one being the poorest – 94 were rated less than one."
The ten found by a sheriff’s deputy last night were puppies. One died while the deputy was there. The majority are outdoors on three-to-four foot chains. Ten were found in a barn.
None of the animals had food or water. The sheriff’s office has put out a plea for donations of dog food. Undersheriff Steve Kelley estimated it would take six sacks per day to feed 96. He said the animal’s ribs and back bones are showing.
"We received lots of calls from Winfield, Welllington and Wichita," Palmer said. A Wellington shelter is bringing down a load of food. We don’t know how long we’ll have to take care of them."
Bales of hay are needed now to help keep the animals warm. Palmer said if someone wants to donate bales they may call the sheriff’s office at 580-362-2517 to make arrangements to meet a deputy at the site. The sacks of food may be dropped off at the sheriff’s office at the courthouse in Newkirk.
Investigators tracked the dog’s owner through the utility company. Jerry Southern, 32, of Wichita, drove to Newkirk after contacted by authorities. He said he raised the dogs to sell them but nobody was buying. He also claimed he fed them everyday. Kelley said for the amount of food Southern said he used it would have amounted to only a handful of food per animal.
Southern was made to feed the dogs before the was arrested for cruelty to animals. He has been convicted to the same crime before and ordered by the court to stay away from put bulls, according to Kelley.
He hopes a Utah organization that takes in abandoned pit bulls will help with the animals found near Newkirk.
