Seminole sues for ownership of dozens of dogs seized from home in ‘worst’ neglect case
Seminole County is asking a judge to grant it legal custody of more than three dozen malnourished and sick dogs that were seized from a Midway home last month, and not to allow the owner to keep any more animals.
“I’ve seen some bad cases of animal abuse. But this is the worst case I’ve ever seen,” said Alan Harris, chief administrator for Seminole’s office of emergency management, which oversees the county’s animal services division.
Seminole deputies arrested and charged Brandon Blake on Nov. 22 with 26 misdemeanor counts of confining animals without sufficient water or food, and four felony charges of animal cruelty. He has pleaded not guilty, and was released from the Seminole County Jail after posting $21,000 bail.
In all, 39 dogs — including Rottweilers, pit bulls and German shepherds — were seized from the home on East 20th Street by deputies after they responded to a domestic disturbance. Deputies also found four dead dogs, according to authorities.
One of the dogs seized was “humanely euthanized” soon after it was brought into Seminole’s animal shelter because of its poor condition, according to officials.
“It clearly had not been fed in a while,” Harris said.
Many of the dogs on the property were found in kennels full of feces and urine, according to a sheriff’s report. At least one canine was discovered housed in a crate living beside a dead dog, according to investigators’ reports.
In a court petition filed Wednesday, assistant County Attorney Dezirée Elliott urged Judge Frederic Schott to prohibit Blake from owning any other animals.
Blake “is unable or unfit to adequately provide for the dogs, as the conditions of the dogs were found in evidence of neglect and mistreatment” by him, Elliott said in her motion.
Blake’s attorney, Carlus Haynes of Orlando, said the Midway man plans to contest Seminole’s motion and retrieve the dogs that belong to him. He noted that many of the dogs were owned by other people who dropped them off at Blake’s Midway home temporarily.
“It’s his position that the majority of the animals [in his home] were not in bad health or in poor health,” Haynes said. “There were a couple that had fallen sick and had died.”
A hearing on Seminole’s petition had not yet been scheduled as of Thursday.
Blake — owner of Brandon Blake’s K9 Services — is a longtime dog breeder and trainer who operated a kennel for nearly two decades, Haynes said.
Seminole issued Blake a kennel license on Feb. 4 after his property was inspected by county animal officers that day and found it “in compliance” with Seminole’s codes on the care and housing of animals.
On April 12, the county received an anonymous tip from Crimeline stating that dogs on the property were filthy, “dog waste [was] everywhere,” and dogs were being “kept in small, broken, wooden cages.” It also noted that “some dogs [were] kept in the dark all day” inside a steel shed with no lights, according to county records.
On April 26, county investigators visited the property and noted that a woman was cleaning the cages.
“All pens were clean,” the county report said. “Dogs had fresh water and pens were adequate. ... I saw no dogs in distress or injured. …There is no steel shed. … I am closing this call as unfounded.”
Haynes said Blake contacted the county animal services department several weeks before his arrest and notified officers that he was having trouble caring for the dogs.
“He explained to them that he was having some difficulties, and [asked] if they could remove a few” of the dogs, Haynes said. “But it never occurred. … I know it all looks bad, but someone at the county was derelict in their duties.”
A search warrant for the property stated that deputy sheriffs and county animal officers had visited the home “numerous times over the course of several years regarding multiple complaints of alleged abuse to canines by Blake.”
The dogs seized include 17 pit bulls, seven bulldogs, four Rottweilers and two German shepherds, along with other mixed breeds. They range in age from 5 months to adult, and weigh between 17 pounds and 105 pounds, according to Seminole’s court petition.
The dogs this week were being treated with antibiotics and nursed for infected puncture wounds, abrasions, inflammation and malnourishment, officials said. Seminole also asked the county judge to require Blake to pay for the dogs’ care.
“They have not had any animal care whatsoever,” Harris said. “They were not fed. They were clearly being used for breeding purposes. He was just looking at getting litters and then making money off of them.”
Harris said if the county obtains legal possession of the dogs, it plans to put them up for adoption after they are in good health.
“Dogs are pretty resilient if you give them antibiotics and feed them well,” he said. “I am optimistic that we will be able to find homes for each of these individual dogs.”
