BOWIE COUNTY, Texas–A Simms, Texas, man accused of choking and beating dogs and puppies to death is being held in the Bowie County jail with bails totaling $1.2 million on a dozen felony animal cruelty charges.
Stuart Duncan Hammonds, 23, allegedly came to the attention of authorities after a woman whose dogs and puppies reported that she had received information that led her to believe her dogs were killed by Hammonds, according to a probable cause affidavit. When investigators visited the property where Hammonds was living in rural Bowie County last week, they could smell the odor of decay and observed the skeletal remains of numerous canines, the affidavit said.
A witness told investigators that Hammonds would pick up and take home dogs and puppies belonging to other people and would get animals through online sources. The witness reported that they had seen Hammonds kill a neighbor’s dogs and puppies by “choking them and slamming them around until they died,” the affidavit said.
Near a camper where Hammonds was living and scattered about a barn on the property investigators found the carcasses of seven dogs, the affidavit said. Other remains were discovered beneath a rubber mat and cardboard box near the barn, the affidavit said.
Investigators listed the remains as belonging to dogs described as: an adult female tan and white Pitbull-type, three six-month-old mixed breed puppies, two black and tan hound-type dogs, a German Shepherd, a black and white Great Dane, an adult female mixed-breed dog, a Pitbull dog of an unknown color, and two Beagle-type dogs, according to the affidavit.
“As a result of this investigation so far, a seizure warrant for the two Great Danes previously described was obtained to preserve life, as it is believed Hammonds has been cruelly torturing and killing dogs on his property,” the affidavit said.
The living Great Danes were taken to the DeKalb Animal Control center for housing and will be evaluated by a veterinarian, the affidavit said.
Hammonds is facing two to ten years on each of 12 counts of animal cruelty, if convicted. He is represented by the Bowie County Public Defender’s Office. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp is representing the state.
The cases have been assigned to 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
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