A list is growing of people offering to adopt one of the more than 100 pit bulls found starving south of Newkirk Tuesday, Kay County Sheriff dispatcher Kerry Macioge said Friday.
"It’s been overwhelming," Julie Oxford, a spokesperson for Ponca City Veterinarian Seletha Sanders said Friday morning. "They do have people coming in to feed them regularly."
Two dogs were taken to be humanely euthanized due to their condition. Some involved in the investigation believe the dogs were used in a dog fighting operation. "…we’re assuming with some of the injuries, head traumas and noses ripped," Oxford said.
Dr. Sanders of the Westside Animal Clinic visually evaluated the pit bulls for body condition and health status. The bond condition scoring system rates the animal on a condition of one as very thin and five as obese.
"There was only one dog with an ideal score – most others received a score of one or less," she said. "The majority of the dogs were very thin to emaciated and very cold.
"The dogs that were chained had plastic barrel houses with little to no bedding and the ground was covered with old and dry feces, " Sanders said.
The dogs inside the barn and in pens were standing in at least five inches of feces mixed with a small amount of hay. Very few of the dogs in the pens had water pans that were not full of debris. A large number of the dogs had skin lesions typical of demodicosis. The smell of ammonia coming from the inside of the barn when the doors were opened was overwhelming, Sanders said.
"A few of the dogs had obvious injuries," she continued. "One small black dog was literally missing the end of her nose. She looked to have been wounded in the past and healed back without nostrils. One large, white male was missing part of his tail with the remainder having large, open wounds."
Two dogs were taken to be humanely euthanized due to their conditions. Both were emaciated and hypothermic. The young red puppy was unable to stand, in shock and covered in fleas and anemic. The older female dog had been recently in a fight. Her head was extremely swollen, covered in wounds and abscessed.
"She could eat but with much difficulty and pain," Sanders said.
Hunters in the area discovered 96 emaciated pit bulls chained in a rural yard. Ten dogs were found in a barn without food or water. Ten puppies were discovered later in a house. One died.
A Wichita man is being held in the Kay County jail for cruelty to animals. Jerry Southern, 32, appeared in Kay County District Court Thursday for a bond hearing. His bond was raised to $250,000 and his first appearance scheduled for Dec. 17.
Formal charges had not yet been filed by the district attorney Friday morning. The affidavit indicated one count of animal cruelty but the sheriff’s office hopes he will be charged with 106 counts.
Southern told investigators he raised the animals to sell but people weren’t buying them. He also claimed he drove there daily to feed the animals. Undersheriff Steve Kelley said the animal’s rib cages and back bones were showing.
Southern has a criminal record and has been convicted in the past of cruelty to animals, according to Kelley.
The calls offering help have been received from "everywhere", Macioge said. Right now, the sheriff’s office is accepting donations of dog food, bales of straw, blankets and bowls. Everything but the straw may be left at the sheriff’s office at the courthouse.
