St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Ernest Jay Singleton arrested on July 18 and charged with 17 counts of cruelty to animals is now on a two week unpaid suspension while an investigation is underway into the allegations of dogfighting.

Prosecutors say an anonymous call to the Saint Martin Parish Animal Control office lead to Singleton’s arrest Wednesday on 17 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. The nine year veteran sheriff’s deputy arrived home while the investigators were on scene. Singleton claims he never used any of his dogs for fighting.

Prosecutors are painting a much different picture. Assistant District Attorney Chester Cedars says once all the evidence is examined the charges could be upgraded. Cedars says just with the evidence now that looks almost certain.

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As I told you on Friday, Tony Taylor, 34, of Hampton, Virginia, entered a guilty plea this morning in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture. Sentencing is scheduled for December 14.

Tony Taylor says he was not promised any specific sentence in return for his cooperation with the government. Vick and two other co-defendants pleaded not guilty last week to similar charges.

Looks to me like the figurative noose around Michael Vick’s neck is getting tighter and tighter every day! Vick’s attorney read a statement after his plea hearing;

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Most of us can’t imagine doing something like this to a dog or to any living creature but unfortunately that doesn’t hold true for everyone. Too many people get their kicks and thrills out of hurting animals for one sick and twisted reason or another. Some hurt this poor dog and hurt her badly. She also has gouge marks on her neck from a collar or rope or something like that being embedded into her skin as well as bite marks on her head. And authorities want to find out who did this!

Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s deputies found the dog wandering on Lafayette’s south side and took her to a shelter near Battle Ground.

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It’s so sad when there are so many dogs and cats out there that need homes so desperately that we have puppy mills breeding dogs at an alarming rate. You can look in the newspaper or online and see hundreds and thousands of cute little dogs and puppies for sale. People need to realize that pets; dogs and cats, puppies and kittens, are not disposable! They are a lifetime commitment! For God’s sake people, be responsible!!

The humane society in St. Augustine, Florida adopted out 874 animals last year but a staggering number were not adopted, they were euthanized, 4230 of them!! And the St. Augustine Florida East Coast Humane Society is not alone. Shelter after shelter, more dogs and cats are being killed day after day because there aren’t homes for them. Because puppy mills keep turning out puppies by the thousands. Because we live in a throw away society. Because for far too many people, the value of life is nil. It’s an epidemic.

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Precious, the poor lab-mix girl that was found laying on Dawn Drive on June 23 and at the time thought dead is still recovering from her horrific ordeal of abuse! When Precious was examined after being removed from James Logan’s custody, she was found to be heartworm positive and doctors found dirt and rocks in her stomach!

Both Precious and Logan’s other dog, Roxy were removed and Logan was cited for not having any proof that his animals had been vaccinated for rabies. He’s also accused of cruelty, for not providing food and clean water. He maintained the cruelty accusation was not true.

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BSL is wrong! That’s the bottom line here and when legislation forces a Spencer City woman to have to kill her own dog because she doesn’t think he could be successfully rehomed.

A ten year old dog would definitely be considered more of a senior dog which is difficult to rehome in the best of situations and pit bull/pit bull mixes are even harder! Go to any shelter, most likely the majority of dogs there will be pit bull breed dogs. Due to BSL and dog fighting, shelters are so overpopulated with pit bulls that they cannot find homes for and the euthanasia rate is without the highest among all breeds.

As founder and director of Second Chance Rescue Center in Sioux Falls, Rosey Quinn said breed-specific bans place an unfair burden on responsible owners and rescue shelters, which rarely accept controversial breeds like pit bulls because of liability issues.

“You’re starting to see it more and more all the time, which is not a good thing,” she said. “It’s a touchy situation.” (The Daily Republic)

So here is this woman, Cathy Magnuson, who has had her dog and loved her dog and now because of some BS legislation (no, BS does not stand for breed specific in this case!) she had to kill her dog!! What is right about this??

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Tony Taylor, on of the defendants accused of operating an interstate dogfighting conspiracy along with Michael Vick and two other defendants is scheduled to plead guilty in two days! He may be cooperating with authories, no difinitive word on that aspect yet, but one thing for sure, this may not be good news for Michael Vick and the other two defendants!

A U.S. District Court yesterday scheduled a plea agreement hearing for Taylor at 9 a.m. Monday before Judge Henry E. Hudson. Hudson also signed a sealed order in the dogfighting case yesterday, which may or may not be connected with Taylor’s plea agreement.

“This could be extremely bad news for Vick,” said Steven Benjamin, a prominent Richmond defense lawyer. “If Taylor is pleading, he’s cooperating with the prosecution. What we don’t know is what he knows.”

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A quick daily dose of Michael Vick Updates!!

Reebok Suspends Sales of Vick Football Jerseys

Athletic apparel maker Reebok said on Friday it is suspending sales of jerseys of National Football League star Michael Vick, who has been accused of sponsoring a dog-fighting operation.

“While we respect the legal process, we find the allegations against Mr. Vick too disturbing to ignore,” said Reebok, a division of Germany’s Adidas, in a statement.

Reebok does not have a separate marketing relationship with Vick, but it is the official supplier of all National Football League apparel and equipment, according to the statement. (Reuters)

Nike Suspends Vick Deal Without Pay

“Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick, and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent,” Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said in a statement.

Since Vick has not been convicted of any crime, Nike left open the door to resume its business relationship with the star player if he’s acquitted.

“We do believe that Michael Vick should be afforded the same due process as any citizen in the United States,” according to the statement. “Therefore, we have not terminated our relationship.”(MSN FOX Sports)

NFL “Sacks” Sales of His Jersey

“We have suspended sales of Vick-related merchandise on our official league e-commerce site, NFLShop.com,” said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. “This includes Vick jerseys and collectible items such as autographed balls and other memorabilia.” McCarthy said the decision was made because it was “not appropriate under the circumstances.” The suspension will take place for the immediate future. (CNBC)

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For Zeus, the Sarasota dog who bit the Verizon repairmen - the word is in!! For all those Zeus supporters out there who’ve been waiting, finally we have the news!! Zeus is to be set FREE!!! He’s going home to the Oteros!!!

Sarasota, Florida - Zeus, the German Shepherd that bit a Verizon repairman in March, will be allowed to go back to his owners.

Sarasota County judge Phyllis Gallen ruled that the dog will be returned to his owners, Gilbert and Ana Otero of Nokomis, although Zeus will now be classified as a dangerous dog.

This past March, Verizon repairman, 23-year-old William Flick, was working at the Oteros’ home when he asked to go inside.

Gilbert Otero claims he told the repairman to wait so he could put the dog away.

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Ernie Hutchinson
Register Guest Columnist

RICHMOND - I was sitting on the couch the other day snuggled up close next to my best buddy in the whole world, everyone calls him Nathan for some reason, when something happened that made my ears perk up.

At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on.

There was some commotion and after looking up at Nathan, with my head tilted inquisitive to one side, of course, I could see something was wrong.

He was upset. Very upset.

I didn’t know why, but it seemed serious. I couldn’t help but be concerned.

Hey, that’s just the way I am.

All the trouble seemed to be because of something he saw on that big black box in the middle of the room, you know, the one he seems to stare at all the time.

I couldn’t quite understand what was being said, I’m not fluent in human, yet, but I could tell the little people in the box were talking about dogs.

Of course, this really got my attention.

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Be sure to have your sound turned on for this…

St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Ernest Jay Singleton was arrested and charged with 17 counts of cruelty to animals. Someone please explain to me how we are supposed to end animal cruelty when the very people who are supposed to protect are the very ones engaged in these horrendous crimes?? Our law enforcement officials are supposed to set an example for the rest of us to follow in not breaking the laws!!

The District Attorney’s office says more than a dozen injured and neglected dogs were found at Singleton’s house. The dogs had scars, injured feet and were found covered in feces and urine.

Assistant District Attorney Chester Cedars tells TV3 it’s very likely Singleton was fighting the dogs - and he could face more charges. Cedars also expects more arrests will be made in connection with the case.

Singleton was arrested July 18th, he’s on leave without pay from the Sheriff’s Department for 14 days. (KATC)

How do you win a war when ‘your soldiers’ are fighting on the other side??