Polk man indicted on 107 counts of animal cruelty, dog fighting charges
The charges against the woman arrested in the case are dropped.
A Polk County grand jury indicted a man on 107 counts of felony aggravated cruelty to animals and 107 counts of felony dog fighting in a case which began with police discovering 70 dogs at a Cashtown Road address.
Devecio Ranard Rowland, 32, has remained in jail since his arrest in late August, at first on animal cruelty charges stemming from the discovery of 70 dogs on property he formerly owned at 569 Cashtown Road.
He alone was indicted in the case, which is expected to head to court in early 2018, Polk County District Attorney Jack Browning said.
Rowland also remained in jail without bond on additional 107 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals, probation violation, two more counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and a charge of conspiracy to commit a felony, according to the Polk County Jail’s records.
Charges have been dropped on Candace Sorrells after the grand jury for Polk County declined to indict her.
Victor Long, an Atlanta-based attorney working on behalf of Sorrells, said today that her arrest would have been prevented had she been forthright with investigators when they arrived at her home in September. He added that his client maintains the dog found at her home that had just birthed a litter of puppies was not involved in the case at all, and is owned by her daughter.
“The dogs that were reported in her house were her daughter’s dog and were given to her, and had nothing to do with the dogs that they alleged that was in the dog fighting situation,” Long said.