Greyhound Massacre

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Greyhound deaths lead to arrest

Ex-dog track employee accused of animal torture

 

<A HREF= " brettnorman " >Brett

Norman</A>

 

A man who admitted shooting and burying thousands of retired greyhounds for

cash was jailed Wednesday on animal-torture charges as investigators continue

to seek his customers.

 

Baldwin County, Ala., District Attorney David Whetstone said that although

most of the 2,000 to 3,000 dogs buried on Robert Rhodes' 18-acre farm in

Lillian, Ala., came from Pensacola, some came from as far away as Hialeah,

which is near Miami.

 

The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering filed to revoke the greyhound

licenses of Rhodes, 68, and kennel operator Clarence Ray Patterson, 59, on

Wednesday, spokeswoman Pat Parker said.

 

Rhodes was booked into Baldwin County Jail without bond on three animal

cruelty charges. Each felony count is punishable by one to 10 years in

prison, Whetstone said.

 

A bond hearing at the Baldwin County Courthouse in Bay Minette, Ala., had not

been scheduled late Wednesday but, by law, must take place by Friday.

 

Sheriff's investigator Huey Mack Jr. said the investigation will take time.

 

" The sheer number of cases means this will be going on for a while, with lots

of follow-ups, " he said.

 

Meanwhile, the greyhound racing industry and greyhound protection groups were

mobilizing. The Pensacola Greyhound Track management and the National

Greyhound Association, an industry group, characterized the illegal disposal

effort as a rogue practice.

 

The Greyhound Protection League, however, said the practice is pervasive in a

cruel industry.

 

" This is what we know goes on but rarely comes to light because it occurs on

private property, by and large, and the industry goes to great lengths to

keep it hidden, " said Susan Netboy, president of the Greyhound Protection

League. " The situation has revealed the real state of dog racing not just in

Alabama and Florida, but nationwide. And it's a really sad commentary on how

greyhounds are really treated. "

 

She said operations such as Rhodes' are known in the industry as " going back

to the farm, " where dogs simply disappear into the backwoods.

 

Although Rhodes admitted to executing as many as 3,000 dogs during the past

40 years, Pensacola Greyhound Track general manager Nick Schlickin said his

first inkling of the practice came in late April.

 

" When the allegations were made that something was occurring that was not

good, we contacted authorities immediately, " Schlickin said. " If we had heard

of them before, we'd have acted on it. "

 

In early May, Schlickin fired four employees who were implicated - Rhodes,

two other security guards and Patterson, who operated the Red Rock Kennel at

the track.

 

Although it is against Florida law to transport greyhounds across state

lines, the State Attorney's Office for the 1st Judicial Circuit in Florida is

not getting involved.

 

" If the pari-mutuel investigators give us a criminal referral, then we'll get

involved, " said Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille.

 

Andy Hillman, a veterinarian who moonlights at the track and euthanizes the

majority of locally discarded racing greyhounds, said he has heard rumors

about the practice for years.

 

The first hard evidence emerged this month, however, he said. He firmly

denies that the executions were widely known.

 

Hillman, who euthanizes about 10 greyhounds a week, said he charges only $20,

less than the $25 to $35 most other local veterinarians charge.

 

Rhodes said he was paid $10 to pick up and destroy retired greyhounds.

 

" For $10, it's hard to believe, huh? " Hillman asked. " But I've had shipments

come in as many as 20 at a time, so if you multiply it out, you get some

savings. It's a shame someone was probably doing this to pinch a few pennies.

This just goes to show you that profit margins now aren't wide enough to

support some kennels. "

 

Danny Viles, president of the Pensacola Greyhound Association and a kennel

operator at the track, said Patterson was a rogue trainer.

 

" This is just devastating for all of us, " he said. " What one man is doing has

cast a dark cloud on all of us. The rest of us don't do our business like

this. "

 

The vast majority of trainers make every effort to adopt out a dog before

destroying it, but the market can't absorb them all.

 

" That's just a bad part of the business, unfortunately. I compare it to

owning a professional sports team. If you have one of your star players who

isn't putting out, then you have to make more arrangements. "

 

Whetstone pledges to follow the investigation wherever it leads.

 

" `Do we believe other people were involved? Yes. Is there evidence that they

knew how the dogs were being killed? Yes. Are we going to pursue it? Yes, "

Whetstone said.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

 

 

 

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