A possible dog fighting operation has been uncovered by Montgomery County Police after raiding a home on the 8100 block of Brink Road near Laytonsville.
The police found 14 pit bull dogs and one Presa Canario in December after animal officers came to check whether or not the animals were being properly cared for. On December 15, a SWAT team was sent to the home because some of the residents had a past of drug and weapons convictions. Charles Copeland, 45, was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm, something he is prohibited from due to a 1998 conviction for drug possession with intent to distribute.
Another resident of the house was charged with marijuana possession.
One of the dogs seized from the property had bite wounds on its neck, leg and head that fell in line with dog fighting wounds. According to the responding animal services officer, some of the dogs were emaciated and malnourished.
Nine of the dogs were put to sleep because two owners who came to claim them did not want to fight the seizure or pay boarding fees for them. The other six dogs have been showing aggression to other dogs and are now being evaluated to see if they are good candidates for adoption.
Back to Copeland – he is out of jail on $25,000 bail, but also has civil violations tacked to his charges. The citations state that he failed to give the dogs proper shelter and water – their bowls were found either empty or frozen, and they were outdoors in freezing conditions with no bedding and inadequate housing. On top of all of this, he is scheduled for a court hearing in Silver Springs for another legal matter.
The owner of three of the dogs, Larry Thomas Jr., was charged with civil violations for inadequately sheltering and nourishing the dogs, as well as failing to have them licensed or vaccinated for rabies. He was fined $450 for the violations in Silver Springs last Tuesday.
Animal service officers were at Copeland’s house back on December 5 because he was under orders to make sure the dogs were properly cared for. He didn’t comply with the first order when they returned on the 13th, so they issued a search warrant on the 15th.
This is obviously not the first time Copeland has been suspected of foul play with the animals. In April 2006, police came to the house to respond to complaints of animal cruelty, excessive barking and dog fighting. He refused to cooperate, so police obtained a search warrant. A search of Copeland’s property in 2006 turned up 13 unlicensed, unvaccinated pit bulls, as well as a sawed-off shotgun, marijuana and small bags containing marijuana residue. The shotgun was found to belong to someone else.
For now, animal cruelty charges against him are pending.
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September 15th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
True love is not based on what you have, but it is based on who you really are and the guy in this story is a jerk!