Update 8/5/08 - A Second Arrest - See update Below!

It started last week with 23 dogs found in a farmer’s Grand Island, NE, corn field. Initially a dog was spotted Thursday afternoon near the corner of a cornfield north of Prairie Road by two people who were driving by the field.

When they stopped to investigate, they saw more dogs, which resulted in the Central Nebraska Humane Society and Hall County Sheriff’s Department responding to the scene. Twenty of the dogs were dead, the three found alive succumbed shortly thereafter, two while investigators were still working the scene and the third, a pregnant female on route to a veterinarian hospital.

The dogs; pugs, Yorkies, terriers, terrier mixes, dachshunds and labradoodles, all adult dogs, had no collars or tags but one did have a microchip. Although the microchip wasn’t registered, it still led the investigation in the right direction, straight to Denise Withee.

Denise Withee, 45, of Mapleton, Iowa, is described as someone who buys and sells dogs. She was found at Grand Island Hotel and also found was a litter of 13 malnourished and flea ridden puppies. Withee was arrested and at the time, charged with three counts of animal abandonment, Call IV felonies. Other charges may also be coming. The puppies were seized and taken to the Central Nebraska Humane Society.

And this is not the end of this sad story! Seems Withee also has a track record of animal cruelty in her home town in Iowa too.

Sgt. Roger Krohn, with the Monona County Sheriff’s Department, says “We had two search warrants… one for a farm and one for a residence in the city of Mapleton and while iIwas at the farm, I got a call from the Hall County Sheriff’s office asking about the target of our investigation.”

On the same day Grand Island’s investigation began, police in Iowa were holding an investigation of their own.

Krohn says “We found 16 adult dogs at a farm near mapleton and we did take those dogs into custody under direction from the veterinarian.”

Just a week earlier, about 20 dogs were found dumped along a rural Monona County
highway. Like in hall county, microchips led Iowa authorities straight to Withee. In all, at least 65 dogs found dead or abandoned in Iowa and Nebraska. All of them were tied to Withee.

“We had many that had open sores. They had extreme cases of mange and blindness. Just
extreme diseases,” says Krohn.

Now authories in Nebraska and Iowa work together to build their case against Withee and find any more dogs that might still be out there.

Krohn says “To me this is the kind of thing that ranks up there with child abuse and these animals are completely dependent on someone for their total care.” (NTV)

So looks like Withee will be facing not only the Nebraska charges and more may be coming, but also some charges in Iowa. There may also be other facing charges as well as the investigation continues.

What a sick case!! As yet there is not conclusion what killed the dogs but I’m sure we’ll be hearing more on this. I just hope they keep this sick b***ch locked up and away from any living thing!

Update 8/5/08 - A second person had been arrested in connection with the Denise Withee dog abandonment case.

Roland Bowling, 50, of 2534 W. North Front St. in Grand Island was charged Monday in Hall County Court with being an accessory to a felony, which is a Class IV felony, and providing false information to law enforcement officials.

If convicted, the charge of accessory to a felony carries up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. If convicted, the charge of providing false information to law enforcement officials carries a 1 year prison term and a $1,000 fine. (Grand Island Independent)

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