23 Pit Bulls Suspected Of Being Injured In Dog Fights Returned To Owner

A large number of dogs confiscated by Daytona Beach, Florida, Police under suspicion of dog fighting had to be returned to their owner after a judge ruled police needed a warrant to take the dogs, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal Thursday.

The case, still under investigation, came to light after readers of the paper prompted the paper to make a public records request. Readers who found the out dogs were being treated at a local animal clinic were concerned that the dogs had been returned to their owners.

“There needs to be some protocol, the Humane Society should work on finding a way to prevent them from sending back these dogs to the hell they came from,” said Katie Williams who visited the clinic where the dogs were treated to the paper. “There needs to be better legislation to protect these defenseless animals.”

County Judge Angela Dempsey ruled that when police entered the property of Noble Geathers, 50, Nov. 2 last year, they violated the man’s fourth amendment rights and conducted an illegal search and seizures of the dogs because they didn’t have a warrant.

Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri told the paper that the report was kept in the dark because they are still investigating it.

“Dog fighting is inhumane and is a very serious offense,” said Capri. “We owed it to the dogs to seize them and protect them from the owner who is irresponsible … I’d do it in again in a heartbeat.”

The dogs were discovered and confiscated when police went to the property in November on an unrelated issue to retrieve a stolen car. Once there, police found the dogs and evidence that the dogs were used in fighting. Because the police entered and took the dogs without a warrant, the judge ruled that the evidence gathered in the initial encounter cannot be used in court.

Geathers and his wife Tiera Geathers, 33, are not currently facing charges for the dogs or the car.

Police said that once they saw the dogs with scars, heavy chains, cages covered in feces and a breeding device a veterinarian’s report called a “rape stand,” they felt they had to remove the dogs.

The chief disagrees with the judge's decision that he needed a warrant.