Sheriff Finds Owner Of 17 Chained Dogs

The owner of 17 dogs found chained on a remote property in rural Caldwell County said he promises to take better care of the animals.

KMBC's Dan Weinbaum found the dogs living in a corner of a field off Highway 116, a few miles east of Cowgill. The dogs appear to be lean and in poor health. There are empty water jugs nearby and barrels that supply limited shelter.

"Some of them were OK, nice, friendly, they all eat and drink, but they need more food, in my opinion," Caldwell County Sheriff Kirby Brelsford said. Neighbors have been concerned about the dogs for a while.

"Why are they raising these dogs down here? (I haven't) seen anybody around to take care of them," neighbor Ann Clevenger told KMBC. "I'm just really concerned, are they being taken care of?"

Caldwell County Sheriff Kirby Brelsford said he sent his deputies to check on the dogs. He said it was "abnormal" to have so many dogs chained up in a field.

The sheriff said he had the dogs fed, and then started looking for the owner, Wesley Poke, of Kansas City.

Poke owns the dogs, which he said are pit bulls, and the property on which they're being kept. The only other thing on the property is a trailer.

The sheriff contacted Poke on Friday. Poke said he would take several of the dogs to a veterinarian immediately.

Poke said he has the dogs on the property because he can't keep them in Kansas City because of its pit bull ordinance.

"He stated that he was going to be raising them to do a show, some type of weight pulling," Brelsford said.

Poke has owned the property for a few months and said he wants to eventually move his family to Caldwell County.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• KMBC
• Caldwell
• County
• Missouri
• pit
• bull
• dogs
• chained