A Fulton County man is facing multiple animal cruelty charges after a doorbell camera captured him dragging and slamming his dog to the ground.
Clarence Earl Jones, 44, of Atlanta, was arrested and booked into the Fulton County Jail on May 27. He’s currently facing six counts of animal cruelty, according to jail records. The charges stem from reported incidents on March 25, May 13 and May 27.
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The Fulton County Police Department’s Animal Services unit started investigating claims of animal abuse after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen, Channel 2’s Michael Seiden reported.
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Investigators say they also received two pieces of video that showed the alleged abuse.
“A concerned citizen had video of Clarence Jones dragging a Cane Corso dog across the pavement by a leash and then picking the dog up and throwing it to the ground,” said Capt. Nicole Dwyer, who supervises the animal services division. “During that investigation, we found an additional video of Clarence Jones punching a dog in the face multiple times with a closed fist and then body slamming the dog.”
After reviewing the videos, police obtained a search warrant for Jones’ home, where they discovered 23 dogs that were living in deplorable conditions.
“There was one room that had 17 French Bulldogs inside that were walking in their own feces, no food, and no water,” she added.
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Investigators also found two pregnant dogs and multiple puppies. They also searched the backyard, where they made another disturbing discovery.
“There were four Cane Corso adult dogs that were housed in makeshift kennels that were falling in on the dog with tattered tarps, no food, no water, walking in mud and their own feces,” she added.
Dwyer said that Jones had been breeding the dogs at his home.
Authorities rescued all 23 dogs from the home, and they’re now being cared for by the county until they’re ready for adoption.
As of Wednesday evening, authorities were still working to locate the Cane Corso seen in the videos.
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“If you do see something, call animal control or call 911 and report it,” Dwyer said. “If you don’t report it, then no one’s ever going to know about it. A lot of our cases come from citizens who are calling in. We’re very thankful that they do that.”
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