JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Animal Care & Protective Services served an arrest warrant Wednesday at a home on the Northside, and a city spokesperson said approximately 20 dogs were removed.
The home is on Castle Boulevard. Records show the owner has been cited previously for keeping animals in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. He was arrested in 2021 and accused of confining animals without sufficient food and water.
Crates of animals could be seen in the backyard, and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Zone 5 Community Problem Response (or C.P.R.) Team was on scene.
The dogs — and two rabbits — were taken to Animal Care and Protective Services in Downtown Jacksonville.
Jim Crosby is an animal cruelty expert and he used to work for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
“It takes a while to process these scenes,” Crosby explained. “I’ve been on many of them and there’s a lot of evidence to be gathered from the scene, from the people and from the dogs even later.”
In addition to the crates, heavy chains were seen attached to poles, and some of those chains had dog collars attached. Crosby said he’s seen similar equipment used in separate investigations that involved allegations of dog fighting.
Records show that charge was dropped, but the city filed a petition to remove the mistreated animals. The owner defaulted on the petition, and on Wednesday, the city acted to remove the animals.
“The next step is to get the animals proper veterinary care and to make sure they have the proper nutritional needs—that they haven’t been starved or deprived,” Crosby said.
Previous charges appeared to have been misdemeanors, and News4JAX does not typically name people facing misdemeanor charges. News4JAX is working to obtain the charges related to Wednesday’s arrest.