Suspected dog fighting ring busted in Austell

Seven people have been arrested with 16 dogs seized by authorities in Cobb County in a suspected dogfighting operation. The raid on a home in Austell found dogs in poor condition--malnourished, underweight and with untreated wounds. Police have charged two men in the case. 45-year-old Michael D. Sweeney and 28-year-old Erik M. Vann each face a number of charges including for animal cruelty and dog fighting--a felony in Georgia. Five women are also in custody on drug possession charges.

Georgia extradites two for alleged animal cruelty

Today the mother and brother of a suspended South Carolina agriculture official were extradited to Georgia to face animal cruelty charges. Terry Trexler and his mother, Hazelene Trexler, each face 30 charges of animal cruelty in Jefferson County near Augusta. Authorities found about 70 Arabian horses on the family's farm in October and say the Trexlers then took some of the horses to South Carolina. James Trexler faces charges in South Carolina where he was Assistant Agriculture Commissioner.

Falcon player cleared of animal cruelty

Gwinnett County's district attorney has dropped a felony animal cruelty charge against Atlanta Falcons player Jonathan Babineaux. DA Danny Porter said his office did an exhaustive investigation, ending with the decision to dismiss the charge.

The probe began in February after police charged Babineaux with killing his girlfriend's pit bull mix. Investigators later verified the dog had a history of unprovoked attacks, and that a trainer had told Babineaux to spin the dog on a leash when it was aggresive.

The Falcons' organization stood by Babineaux in the midst of its quarterback, Michael Vick, facing dog fighting allegations. Vick eventually pleaded guilty to charges in a separate case against him.

Guilty plea for animal cruelty

A west Georgia man facing 101 counts of animal cruelty, has pleaded guilty. Roger Lee Prater will pay $35,000 in fines, serve 100 hours of community service and be confined to his home for 120 days. In February, officials found more than 200 starving horses, cows, goats and dogs on Prater’s Pike County farm. 24 of the surviving horses will be auctioned in a month.

Boy sentenced for burning dogs

A 14-year-old boy will spend 60 days in a detention center for burning two dogs to death. The unidentified teen was sentenced Friday in Macon. In all, three teenage boys were charged with burning a dog and a puppy last month. Animal rescuers from central Georgia called the case one of the worst examples of animal cruelty in they have ever seen.