AR-News: (US FL) Deputies fired after dog fighting accusations

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Monday, March 1 
By Andrew Marra
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer 
Two sheriff's deputies accused of leaving a mauled pit bull to die on a dirt 
road were fired Monday but will not face criminal charges, officials said. 
The two corrections officers — Alton Harrell and Reginald Mickins — had been 
arrested in September on animal cruelty charges after another deputy pulled 
them and two other men over in a truck east of Belle Glade. The deputy noticed 
a blood-smeared cage in the cargo area and later saw a badly injured pit bull 
abandoned nearby. 
Investigators said the injuries to the pit bull, whose body was found in a 
nearby canal four days later, seemed consistent with dogfighting.
Sheriff Ed Bieluch said Monday both deputies would be fired after an internal 
affairs investigation concluded the men were responsible for abandoning the 
dog and were untruthful to investigators about their involvement. 
“For this atrocious crime, I don't think there's anything appropriate except 
dismissal,” Bieluch said.





full story:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/feeds/0301dogs.html 
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