John Jefferson
Inset: Vincent Lemark Burrell (Paulding County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Officials brought one of the victim dogs, Baby Shark, to Burrell’s sentencing (WXIA).
A Georgia man was sentenced to 475 years in prison after authorities rescued more than 100 malnourished pit bulls tied to trees and metal stobs in his backyard in a dogfighting ring bust.
Vincent Lemark Burrell, 57, learned his fate Thursday after being found guilty by a jury this week of dogfighting and animal cruelty charges.
On Nov. 8, 2022, authorities raided Vincent Burrell’s property in Dallas, Georgia, and made the grim discovery.
“Everywhere you looked, you couldn’t take a step in any one direction without there being another pit bull staked out on a chain,” said Paulding County Assistant District Attorney K.C. Pagnotta, adding it is believed to be the longest such sentence in the nation’s history for this crime, local Fox affiliate WAGA reported.
“And the purpose of doing that is dog fighting,” the prosecutor continued. “They will put the pit bull out on a chain, and they space each dog out enough that they can see each other. They can agitate each other, but they can actually get to one another. And it’s part of the building of aggression that they used to train fighting dogs.”
Burrell had been both breeding and training the pit bulls, the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. Detectives found 106 dogs, mostly pit bulls. Some dogs were emaciated, while others were strong and extremely aggressive toward other dogs, officials said.
“The sad part is that the vast majority of these animals just craved the love and attention of the Deputies and Detectives that were on the scene,” the agency said in the press release.
Authorities rescued 106 dogs, all of which were placed in various rescue facilities.
Dogs were tied to trees and metal stobs. They were kept without being properly hydrated and fed.
“These animals were tied to various things using large and extremely heavy logging chains and thick collars,” officials said. “Many of these dogs were basically left in the elements with little to no shelter for days on end.”
Some dogs were housed in the basement with an odor of urine and feces so strong that authorities had to wear protective equipment just to be able to enter the home.
“Conditions where dogs were being housed, both inside and on the exterior of this property, were not fit for humans, much less dogs,” the press release continued.
“The dark and sinister world of dog fighting is a despicable culture that has no place in our world,” Paulding County Sheriff Gary Gulledge said.
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