Details emerge in massive dog abuse case

By MITCHELL KLINEStaff Writer - THE TENNESSEAN

LYLES, TENN. - Investigators found 747 live animals at Pine Bluff Kennels, a dog breeding operation in Lyles, Tenn., according to a search warrant filed on Monday at the Hickman County Courthouse.

The warrant, which was signed on June 20 by Circuit Court Judge Jeff Bivins, states that Patricia P. Adkisson is being investigated for aggravated animal cruelty and forgery. Adkisson, who has not been charged, has been selling dogs through the Web site pinebluffpups.com. She did not have a license to sell animals, according to the warrant.

Law enforcement officials and members of the Human Society of the United States, who raided Pine Bluff Kennels on June 25 , discovered 682 live dogs and 12 dead ones at the kennels, which are located at 10372 Ed Lyell Road. Investigators found 25 cats, 13 chickens, 4 other birds and 23 horses, according to court records.

Investigator Barry Carroll stated that a confidential informant who worked at the kennels told police Adkisson would kill dogs that were old, sick or otherwise "not adoptable."

"Ms. Adkisson has never taken any of these animals to a veterinarian, not even for the purposes of vaccinations required by state law," Carroll wrote in the search warrant. "If any of the dogs received treatment it was given by Ms. Adkisson usually prior to being sold."

The informant told Carroll that Adkisson was trying to obtain drugs from a black market in Australia. The informant said all the animals that died were placed into a bucket inside the puppy kennel where they were left sometimes for days until Adkisson put them in bags and took them to a dump.