Florida man arrested after police find 33 dogs in his backyard

Question

A man from Florida was found with 30 dogs that appeared to have been abused while being kept in his backyard.

Deputies had been called to the home to look into a complaint about barking dogs in Largo, near Tampa. 

When they arrived, they found two neglected children, several weapons and cocaine inside the home.

Alongside them, 38-year-old Terrell Coley was found in the backyard together with dozens of kennels to house the animals.

'All the neighbors were complaining. There was barking non-stop, day-and-night. I even recorded audio from my window because my friends didn't believe me,' one resident who lived close by told DailyMail.com

'I heard them barking all the time, it sounded like torture.'




A man from Florida was found with 30 dogs that appeared to have been abused while being kept in his backyard





An aerial elevated view shows numerous makeshift dog kennels at the home of Terrell Coley





Colley was arrested by Pinellas County Deputies on Saturday after they said they found 33 dogs and two children at his home that were possibly abused and neglected





Police had been called to the home following a noise complaint that had been lodged





Terrell Coley was arrested on more than three dozen charges including felony child neglect, aggravated cruelty to animals, animal cruelty, cocaine possession

Investigators quickly determined the pets consisted mostly of hounds and black mouth curs, which are generally used for hunting, were not being well cared for, and decided to take Coley into custody.

Police then obtained a search warrant to delve further into Coley's home.  

Deputies uncovered drugs including cocaine together with several firearms, and ammunition.  

White powder was also found and it is currently being tested to determine its nature of test results are pending. 

Pinellas County Animal Services seized a total of 33 dogs of various ages.




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Some of the dogs appeared to be in bad shape and looked as though they had been used for hunting





The dogs brought were to Pinellas County Animal Services in Pinellas County





The dogs will likely be put up for adoption in the near future once they are given a health check





One of more than 30 dogs is pictured here, behind bars 





Deputies say four dogs were injured. Additional dogfighting equipment was found in the home





The rescued dogs are seen in their new surroundings at the Pinellas County Animal shelter












Four of the dogs were injured and dogfighting equipment was also found inside the home.

Two children who were under 14 were at the house with no food or supplies, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Coley has been arrested and charged with two counts of felony child neglect, four counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, soundlex earbuds Experience 29 counts of animal cruelty, two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, and one count of possession of cocaine.

'It's always concerning to us,' Pinellas County Animal Services Director Doug Brightwell said to WFLA. 'We have been aware of this dog owner and suspected activities, but again it takes sometimes nothing but good timing as much as anything else to get the break you need.'

'We filed affidavits with the animal control, code enforcement. I even contacted the district supervisor who referred me back to code enforcement,' former neighbor Linden Brown said. 'There just was a lot of what-ifs going on that we just can't explain.

'That just reaffirms all the information and the pictures and the documentations that we presented to animal control that they refused to respond to and deal with the problem before it went to another neighborhood,' Brown said. 

'[Hopefully this will] discourage anybody else who's trying to use a loophole of living in unincorporated Largo to do things that they shouldn't be doing illegally.' 

Additional charges are pending according to Fox 13.









Officer Justin Burch was first on the scene, which resulted in the rescue of more than 30 dogs





Pinellas County Animal Services Director Doug Brightwell, pictured, confirmed several of the dogs were thin and wounded to DailyMail.com exclusively





The dogs are currently being held at the Pinellas County Animal Services shelter



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