DeKalb felon caught with 25 starving, scarred dogs outside Macon

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The sheriff in Washington County outside Macon arrested a man Wednesday who kept 25 emaciated and scarred dogs chained to tires, axles and posts on a sprawling hunting property.

Investigators found another 27 buried dog carcasses, and the sheriff said there could be others.

"We think these dogs were involved in dog fighting, and we think they were used for other dogs to practice with," Sheriff Thomas Smith told the AJC. "It was awful."

Thomas said his agency arrested Billy Taylor Jr., 52, and charged him with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. "There will be many counts of cruelty to animals," the sheriff added.

Taylor was renting the property where the dogs were found, which is on Ohoopee Church Road in Oconee, the sheriff said. He said Taylor 's prior felony conviction was for forgery in DeKalb County in 1998.

The sheriff's office began investigating the cruelty case about four months ago and called on the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for help several weeks ago.

The dogs were victims of cruelty and "horrible" conditions, Tim Rickey, the senior director of field investigations at ASPCA, said in a written statement. The organization took the survivors to an undisclosed shelter where they were being treated by ASPCA veterinarians with help from the University of Florida's Center for Forensic Medicine.

Rickey said the dogs had "battle scars" and were starved for human attention. They were suffering from untreated injures, respiratory problems and open wounds, and were shivering when they were rescued, the ASPCA said.

Thomas said the dogs were a mix of several breeds, including pit bull, chow and German Shepherd. They were tied down by thick "logging chains," so they would gain strength by dragging their anchors around, he said. They were living out in the open, amongst the trees. "I don't know how they made it through the snow," he said, referring to last week's snowfall.

The sheriff said he hopes to see other people besides Taylor charged in connection with the case. "We're hoping he will cooperate" with the investigation, the sheriff said. "But he's not cooperating right now."