HALIFAX COUNTY, Va. (WSET) — An animal cruelty investigation is underway in Halifax County after authorities say they found evidence tied to dog fighting.
According to Halifax County Animal Control, this all stems from a tip they got about possible animal cruelty.
They got the tip on Wednesday and did a welfare check on the dogs. While there, they said they found evidence that gave them probable cause to obtain a search warrant. Animal control came back to the property the next day and found things like training devices and medications that are sometimes used for dog fighting. They ended up seizing 16 dogs and 11 puppies.
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Lieutenant Jackie Emerman said they take any tip about possible animal cruelty very seriously.
“We can’t trust that things are going to be right, we can’t trust that we do address issues that things are going to be fixed. we have to find the issues, fix the issues and if the issues can’t be fixed then we have to take matters into our own hands to address them however we need to address them,” Emerman said.
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Animal Control Chief Warden Allison Cannon also said that all the dogs were me the dogs were tethered outside, which is not safe due to how hot it was outside.
“Eventually these dogs are going to be in distress at some point and Virginia has a tether law, over a certain amount of heat index, they’re not allowed to be tethered, to begin with,” Cannon said.
No charges have been filed currently and the investigation is ongoing. All the dogs will be in the custody of the Halifax County Animal Shelter during the investigation.
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