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Cover Stories Winter 2002/03 Florida Trainers Linked to Alabama Killing Field Foley, Alabama: Three Florida residents, all associated with the dog racing industry and licensed by the state, have been arrested on animal cruelty charges in connection with the slaughter of thousands of racing dogs discovered in Lillian, Alabama earlier this year. A fourth Florida resident, identified only as a Pensacola man, was also charged and is being sought. Indictments in the case were released Nov. 7, the same day Baldwin County officials announced that Ursula O'Donnell, Paul Discolo, Jr., and John W. Smith had been arrested in Florida in recent weeks. O'Donnell was arrested at Melbourne Greyhound Park, Discolo was arrested at Ebro Greyhound Park, and Smith was arrested in Marathon. Bonds for each were set at $7,500. A Baldwin County grand jury determined that Discolo shot a greyhound in agreement with O'Donnell, Smith, and others, including Robert Rhodes, 68, a security guard at Pensacola Greyhound Park, on whose Lillian property the mass grave was discovered. The indictments described the dog shootings as torture. O'Donnell, Discolo, and Smith also were charged with one count each of criminal conspiracy to intentionally torture a dog. The indictments and additional arrests stemmed from the May arrest of Rhodes, who shot and buried thousands of greyhounds on his 18-acre farm in Lillian. Rhodes told investigators he was paid $10 apiece to shoot the retired racing dogs. Rhodes's indictment on animal torture and criminal conspiracy charges also was released Nov. 7. Investigators believe the dogs were shipped from tracks across Florida to Pensacola for Rhodes to pick up, said Lt. Huey Mack Jr., the chief investigator for the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office. "We believe it was an organized effort," Mack said. "These people all knew each other and some of the dogs came from as far south as Tampa," Mack said. Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone, the prosecuting attorney in the case, said he plans to ask Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to extradite O'Donnell, Discolo, and Smith. "We believe there's a conspiracy to bring the dogs to Alabama for elimination," he said. Whetstone said the dogs were brought to Alabama because shooting them was cheaper than trying to find them a home. "The dogs were killed because they weren't fast enough," he said. "We think money had a lot to do with it." Janet Skinner, Tampa Bay coordinator for the California-based Greyhound Protection League, said the recent indictments prove the problem is bigger than just one person or place. "How many other guys are out there operating the same way?" Skinner asked. "The dogs disappear from the face of the earth," she said. Nick Schlikin, general manager of the Pensacola track, said they have been performing spot checks after a dog leaves the track. Schlikin said tracks throughout the country are trying to get a better handle on the situation and weed out the "bad apples." Brian Sodergren, companion animal issues specialist for the Humane Society of the United States, said, "The industry breeds thousands of surplus dogs every year in the effort to produce 'winners' and coldly kills or discards the dogs that don't make it. This is more than just a case of a few bad apples. The industry itself is rotten at the core." In a Dec. 6 interview with the Fort Myers News Press, Whetstone said the number of greyhounds killed on Rhodes's farm could be as high as 4,000. Sources: Pensacola News-Journal:
Ashley Branch, Associated Press;
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