The DeSoto County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of 21-years-old JUSTIN SCOTT HARRIS (pictured) on an active felony warrant.
According to the arrest affidavit obtained by Voice For Us, on May 23, 2022, Corporal Buck with the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office, responded to a property on 6604 NE Moore Avenue after receiving an anonymous call about two dogs, severely malnourished, who were being kept inside of a cage.
Upon arrival, Corporal Buck met with Sergeant Miley and they saw two male puppies, named Smoke and Grenade.
The furbabies were inside a cage that was approximately 2 feet by 4 feet and that was covered with several piles of feces and urine.
The bowls inside the cage did not have any food or water.
Smoke and Grenade were in bad shape. They looked emaciated with their ribs and hip bones prominent. They were also both severely dehydrated.
“I could see most of both dogs' bone structure throughout the majority of their bodies,” reported Corporal Buck.
Corporal Buck immediately gave Smoke and Grenade a half-gallon pot of water which the furbabies drank until it was all gone!
Running loose around the yard was a 3-month-old female puppy named Stella.
As Corporal Buck walked to the backyard, he found a goat on a leash.
The goat, named Little Baby, was skinny with her ribs and hip bones showing.
The fur on Little Baby was brittle and the color of her hair looked to be sun-faded in certain areas.
Little Baby’s leash was wrapped around the bottom of a trampoline and she was only able to walk in an approximate 8-foot radius.
The grass around Little Baby was no taller than a half inch due to her eating it all.
As soon as Corporal Buck unraveled Little Baby’s leash, she was able to walk out further, and immediately went to a thicker grass area and began eating.
There was no sign of water for Little Baby either. Corporal Buck found a broken bucket, he filled it with water, and gave it to Little Baby who began to feverishly drink.
While Corporal Buck was near Little Baby, he could smell a foul odor coming from a gated area approximately 10 feet away from where Little baby was leashed.
Inside the pen was the decomposing carcass of a black hog.
The hog carcass looked to have been decomposing for roughly 1 week.
The front door of the residence was partially open so Corporal Buck and Sergeant Miley announced themselves several times before entering.
“Immediately upon entering the house, the smell of feces and ammonia from dog urine was apparent”, reported Corporal Buck.
There was trash and debris all throughout the home and several piles of feces and standing urine.
In the master bedroom there were used diapers, used baby wipes, and garbage covering the floor.
Corporal Buck learned that HARRIS and his girlfriend were living in the home and their baby was with her grandmother due to her being in a hospital.
Two more dogs were also found inside the home, Sky and Mandy, both female.
Sky and Mandy did not have any food or water either.
Corporal Buck talked to a neighbor who said that he had never seen HARRIS feed the hog. The neighbor also said that when the hog died, he told HARRIS about it but HARRIS never did anything about the decomposing remains.
Corporal Buck then called in Desoto County Animal Control (DCAC) and Desoto County Sheriff's Office Impound Agent John Court.
DCAC Officer Susan Brodowsky responded and picked up all the dogs due to their conditions and the condition of the property.
Meanwhile, the neighbor told Corporal Buck that HARRIS was on the phone and wanted to talk to him.
HARRIS claimed only Smoke and Grenade looked bad because he claimed they had Parvo.
He then said that Sky and Mandy were well taken care of, that he had all the shots and records for them, and that Mandy was microchipped.
When HARRIS arrived at the house, he told Corporal Buck and Officer Brodowsky that whatever illness Smoke and Grenade had, they contracted it from another dog he had surrendered, also named Sky, who had been euthanized.
Officer Brodowsky removed all the dogs and took them to DCAC for impoundment.
After Officer Brodowsky left, HARRIS told Corporal Buck that on April 12, 2022, animal control was at his house and removed Sky (later euthanized), due to her being severely malnourished.
Sky was a 4-year-old brown and white Pitbull mix.
HARRIS claimed that animal control told him he would need to surrender the dog or he would be facing animal cruelty charges.
He also told Corporal Buck that when animal control took Sky, they did not look at the other animals present at the home and Smoke and Grenade were in a worse condition.
During the interview, HARRIS often expressed his primary concern for Sky and Mandy.
Corporal Buck explained to him that he could get them back from animal control if he cleans up the home and provided proper care for them.
While Corporal Buck was waiting for Impound Agent Court to respond to remove Little Baby, HARRIS dipped a bucket into the abandoned pool in the yard that had what appeared to be stagnant water.
Corporal Buck asked HARRIS if there was chlorine in the pool and HARRIS said it was rainwater. The water had been in the direct sunshine all day and was very warm.
Corporal Buck then asked HARRIS about the dead hog.
HARRIS said a friend of his gave him the hog 2 weeks ago after he had hit the animal while driving a buggy.
HARRIS claimed the hog had only been dead for 2 days, however, from the stage of decomposition of the carcasses, it appeared to have been dead for over one 1 week.
HARRIS admitted there was something wrong with the hog and said he/she could barely walk.
Corporal Buck asked HARRIS what he was feeding the hog and HARRIS said dog food.
When Impound Agent Court responded, he saw where Little Baby was being kept tied up and said that being so close to the hog’s carcass, she had a high propensity of spreading bacteria if not disposed of. He then removed Little Baby.
After Corporal left HARRIS’ home, he went to animal control to talk to Officer Brodowsky who in the meantime had given food and water to all the dogs she had removed.
Corporal Buck learned that Officer Brodowsky had scanned Mandy’s microchip and it turned out that it was registered to PetLink, a pet registry and recovery company.
PetLink showed the furbaby’s name as Madeline and identified her guardians as a couple from Arcadia.
In view of these findings, Officer Brodowsky said that HARRIS could only have Sky back.
On May 25, Officer Brodowsky contacted Corporal Buck and informed him that the dogs underwent a preliminary medical check. She said they all had parasites and needed medication before being rechecked.
She reported that Stella, should have been approximately 40 pounds, but she was under 30 pounds.
Smoke and Grenade were determined to be close to 7 months old. Both furbabies should have weighed approximately 40 pounds but they were under twenty 20 pounds. One of them also had a retained testicle.
HARRIS went to animal control and picked up Sky on May 24, 2022.
Mandy was picked up by the Arcadia couple on May 25, 2022.
On May 27, 2022, Deputy Nuñez and Corporal Hernandez went to HARRIS’ home for a follow-up and asked him if he would be willing to turn over Little Baby to the Sheriff's Office and he said he would.
Deputy Nuñez ran HARRIS through dispatch who advised he had an active warrant for aggravated animal cruelty, animal cruelty, disposing of bodies of dead animals, confinement of animal without food, water, or exercise.
HARRIS was placed under arrest and booked into the DeSoto County Jail on one count of cause cruel death, pain, and suffering, one count of unlawful disposal of dead animals, five counts of keeping animals in enclosure without exercise and air, and six counts of torment deprive mutilate or kill.
Online arrest records show HARRIS is still in custody and he is scheduled to appear in court on June 27, 2022.
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Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.
