A Georgia man will be spending a long time behind bars for a ton of cases of animal animal abuse.
Vincent Lemark Burrell, 57, of Dallas was sentenced to 475 years in prison after he was found guilty of 93 counts of dog fighting and 10 counts of animal cruelty in Paulding County in the metro Atlanta area. State animal crimes resource prosecutor Jessica Rock said via email that it is the longest sentence involving dog fighting a person has received anywhere.
What did Vincent Lemark Burrell do?
According to the Paulding County District Attorney’s Office, the case started years ago when officers responded to a complaint from an Amazon driver who was concerned about the welfare of the dogs he saw on Burrell’s property. He saw numerous dogs tied up to fence posts on heavy chains. The dogs were chained close to each other but just out of reach, a tactic that reportedly serves to build dog aggression.
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On November 8, 2022, the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office and the Paulding County Marshal’s Office arrived at the property to execute a search warrant and arrested him. They found 107 dogs, most of which were tied on heavy logging changes in the backyard. They didn’t have access to food or water and most were underweight.
They also found other items reportedly associated with dog fighting:
- A chicken being used to entice the dogs.
- A treadmill designed for dogs.
- A breeding stand.
- A break stick (used to pry open the jaws of a dog during a fight).
- Documents linking Burrell’s dogs to other known dog fighters.
- A crash kit commonly used to treat dogs after a dog fight.
- Medication used only by licensed veterinarians.
- Contracts for the sale of specific dogs.
A veterinarian examined the dogs and found, among other concerns, that they had rashes around their necks from their collars and scarring patterns reportedly consistent with dog fighting. Several of the dogs had teeth that had been forcibly removed from their mouth.
What happened to the dogs?
All the dogs found were placed in different rescues after they were found to start their rehabilitation process, according to police. Friends to the Forlorn Pitbull Rescue President Jason Flatt and dog trainer Frank Ortiz, “worked day and night, for 4 days straight, removing over 100 dogs from their chains and holding them so they can be photographed and medically examined by veterinarians,” according to the organization’s post on Facebook.
“To everyone involved…thank you it was a pleasure to work with you guys and seeing this sentence has restored some faith for a few of us,” Flatt wrote. “I still have a dog [Baby Shark] seized from this case. I’m thankful she’s safe. Don’t fight dogs….especially in Paulding County….we love dogs here.”
Julia Gomez with USA Today contributed to this article.
Miguel Legoas is a Deep South Connect Team Reporter for Gannett/USA Today. Find him on X and Instagram @miguelegoas and email atmlegoas@gannett.com.
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