Cover Stories Summer 2003

New Alabama Law Causes Confusion and Concern in Killing Field Case

Montgomery: A new law signed by Gov. Bob Riley June 20 makes it a misdemeanor crime to execute retired greyhounds by means other than lethal injection. Rep. James Buskey, D-Mobile, said he sponsored House Bill 37 in response to the killing field uncovered on Robert Rhodes's property in Baldwin County in May 2002. [For the complete story, see the Summer 2002 issue of GNN online at www.greyhoundnetworknews.org - Ed.]

Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone charged Rhodes with first-degree felony animal cruelty under Alabama's Gucci Law, named for a mixed-breed dog in Mobile County that survived being hanged, beaten, and set on fire. The heinous crime led to the passage of the felony animal cruelty statute.

According to the opinion of the veterinary pathologist who necropsied four exhumed greyhounds on Rhodes's property, only one of the four dogs died instantly. Whetstone said at the time, "We don't know how long they may have suffered, or if they were alive when they were buried." The possibility that some of the thousands of greyhounds buried on Rhodes's 18-acre property may have been buried while still alive constituted torture within the meaning of the Gucci statute.

Whetstone said the new law could affect his case against Rhodes. "There's no doubt in my mind that it would exclude the Gucci law, or the Alabama animal cruelty law, as it applies to greyhound dogs," he said. "It effectively reduces the greyhound dog to a beast of burden. A junkyard dog has more protection than a greyhound dog under this statute."

Buskey, defending the bill, said, "This has nothing to do with the Gucci statute. I don't think the two laws are in conflict." Pepper Bryars, a spokesman for the governor, disagreed with Whetstone's interpretation. "Our read on this was that it would not exempt greyhounds from the Gucci statute. We don't think this would take the power away from the DA."

Greyhound Protection League director Susan Netboy said the new law could have a devastating effect. "Once again, greyhounds get second-class treatment. This is typical of what happens with racing greyhounds throughout the country."

Source: Mobile Register: Brendan Kirby

Late Breaking News: "The killing fields of Lillian are no more," said Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone in a July 2 press release announcing the death of Robert Rhodes on Monday, June 30. "The death of Mr. Rhodes will have serious impact upon the prosecution of our cases," he said, referring to the four Florida trainers also indicted in the case. "I intend to work with Florida authorities for the next month to determine our next effort," Whetstone said. "I also intend to work with the Alabama Legislature to amend Alabama's new Greyhound Protection Law so that it truly is a protection law."

Sources: Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone's press release Mobile Register: Brendan Kirby