HUNT COUNTY, Texas — UPDATE [Jan. 11] — Maureen McDaniel was arrested on one charge of cruelty to non-livestock animals, a class A misdemeanor, in connection with the seizure of nine pit bulls and 10 chickens in November 2017.
HUNT COUNTY, Texas — UPDATE [Jan. 11] — Maureen McDaniel was arrested on one charge of cruelty to non-livestock animals, a class A misdemeanor, in connection with the seizure of nine pit bulls and 10 chickens in November 2017.
McDnaiel was booked into the Hunt Count Jail with bond set at $4,000.
ORIGINAL [Nov. 1] — Nine pitbulls and 10 chickens were seized from a Hunt County property on Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday morning, the SPCA of Texas received a complaint online about the animals “in a dire situation,” SPCA of Texas representative Maura Davis told inForney.com.
SPCA investigators, the Hunt County Precinct 1 Constable’ Office, and the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office went to the residence in the 10000 block of County Road 2450, which is located just north of the Kaufman County line and northwest of Poetry, Texas, to investigate the complaint.
Investigators found the nine pitfalls chained outside with what were described as heavy tow chains. The dogs were in emaciated conditions with open sores, according to Davies. One was suffering from multiple tumors.
The 10 chickens were found in a small, makeshift cage, she said.
Based on the animals conditions and for fear the animals may suffer from imminent starvation, Davies says investigators obtained a seizure warrant from a Hunt County justice of the peace.
The dogs were taken to the Russell E. Dealey Animal Rescue in Dallas, Texas, and the chickens were taken to the Russell H. Perry Animal Care Center in McKinney, Texas.
Investigators were unable to make contact with an animal owner before executing the seizure warrant but were able to later make contact with a possible owner.
Charges for animal cruelty are pending, according to Davies.
Neighbors told inForney.com they were alarmed Wednesday morning at the law enforcement presence, mentioning a raid several years ago at the same property.
In April 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, among several other law enforcement agencies, raided the property and arrested, Robert Allan Miller, on a warrant for terroristic threat and obstruction or retaliation. Investigators, at the time, said Miller made the threats against a Kaufman County assistant district attorney on Facebook.
Days before the threats, then-District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were shot to death in their home by former Kaufman County Justice of the Peace Eric Williams and, months earlier, Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was gunned down outside the Kaufman County courthouse.
The charges were later dismissed after Miller, who is now deceased, pled guilty in a plea agreement to driving while intoxicated, 3rd or more, and was sentenced to four years in prison.
A custody hearing for the animals is scheduled for November 8 at 10 a.m. before Hunt County Justice of the Peace Sheila Linden.