Dog Owners Speak Out About Having Pets Stolen

Dog owners around the Mid-South who say they`ve been the victim of organized crime are speaking up. KARK 4 News has been following the investigation into C.C. Baird, a kennel owner and dog dealer in Williford, Arkansas. He`s licensed to sell dogs for research. A California-based animal rights group, called Last Chance for Animals, started the investigation about 15 years ago. Last August, federal agents raided Baird`s kennel and took over one hundred animals, mostly dogs and cats. And last month, the USDA filed a complaint against Baird, alleging severe abuse and neglect of animals. "When you`ve got a pet you cared that much for, is a member of the family, it doesn`t matter about years," said Carolin Robertson, of Steens, Mississippi. She fears the worst has happened to her dog, Mokke. "Well, I`m afraid he`s not here anymore," she said. Mokke was two years old when he was taken from his owner`s home outside Columbus, Mississippi in 1989. Robertson was dealing with her own health problems at the time. "There were times he`d have his big old face up on the bed and his eyes were like, `are you okay?`" she said. The dogs taken from Baird`s kennel in August 2003 were taken to Barton Coliseum, from where they were adopted. Federal agents took them from the Martin Creek Kennel in Williford, Arkansas run by C.C. Baird. The animal rights group, Last Chance for Animals and even the USDA says th dogs were abused and neglected at that kennel before sale. "If someone is looking for their lost pet, do you think they`d know to go to another state and catch that pet being sold between 7 and 9 a.m.?" said Chris DeRose, the group`s founder, at a press conference, Saturday. Jonesboro doctor, Dewayne Eubanks shares a similar to Robertson`s. "Basically, [I] went to bed that night, woke up the next morning and he was gone," Eubanks said. His hunting companion, Rebel, disappeared the same year as Robertson`s Mokke. "Just flat being furious that somebody would have the audacity to violate me by stealing my dog," Eubanks said. After some checking on their own, Eubanks and Robertson are certain that people working for Baird stole their dogs. "There was a lot of circumstantial evidence. One of those things everybody knows and nobody wants to talk about," he said. Now that the USDA has filed a complaint againt Baird, Robertson and Eubanks are only hoping for justice, since they`ll never have their dogs back at home. So far, there have been no criminal charges filed against Baird. The group is expecting the Pet Safety and Protection Act to be re-introduced to Congress this week. That bill would keep the USDA from issuing licenses to allow dealers to sell animals for research.