Case of Animal Cruelty Not Over

A case of animal cruelty involving seven dead puppies in White County isn`t over yet, even though a man has been convicted. Back in February, the Beebe Humane Society found a pit bull, August tied to the dog house behind the home of Elmer Carl Bacus, IV. "August was tied out back to a tree very emaciated, gum infection, mastitis," describes the humane society`s Jaxie Heppner. Police were called to Bacus` home on a domestic dispute when they found August. In Febrary, August was 21 pounds underweight, with parasites and ear infections. "Where she couldn`t get to food or water, it wasn`t there anyway," Heppner said. Beebe Police found her puppies already dead or dying inside Bacus` home. "When I entered there was one in the process of dying behind the door, it died within a few seconds," Heppner said. One puppy was found alive in an empty food dish, it was later euthanized. Two other puppies were found tied up in groery bags on the floor. "I`m very happy about the jail sentence that he got, I wish he would`ve had to pay some restitution or fines," she said. But Bacus` father says his son is not guilty, someone else at his home poisoned the dogs with anti-freeze. He was convicted on eight misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, and sentenced to six months in jail. But because he plans to appeal his case, Bacus bonded out on a $1,000 appeals bond. "You have the right to appeal to a circuit court from your conviction," said City Attorney Mark Derrick. Derrick says Bacus has 30 days to file notice of appeal and the right to bond out of jail. Bacus` father says when his son left his home for a few days in January, because of problems with is girlfriend, the dogs were healthy. But, when he returned two days later, the dogs were dead. Bacus says he isn`t sure yet whether or not their attorney has filed the notice of appeal with the circuit court.