Another arrest in Talladega County animal cruelty case
Wife of dog trainer now charged
Wife of dog trainer now charged
Wife of dog trainer now charged
Another arrest in a Talladega County animal abuse case we told you about a few weeks ago. Deputies arrested the wife of a dog trainer already behind bars accused of animal cruelty. The trainer, Dylan Shotwell has been in the Talladega County jail for almost three weeks.
He had been out on bond for an earlier animal cruelty case, but with the latest arrest, his bond was revoked. He's accused of abusing the dogs he was paid thousands of dollars to train.
Now his wife is also facing charges as the number of people coming forward with horror stories about his training facility grows. We want to warn you some of the video in this story is disturbing.
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Denise Boyce says her dog, Gunner, was killed while at the Shotwell’s training facility. She says, “It's bizarre, it's heart-wrenching. I don't know how he chooses who he's going to harm, but every dog has been harmed.”
Boyce says hiring the Shotwells to train her German Shepherd was the worst decision she's ever made. After several weeks at his facility, Gunner died. She took video of his body as she dropped him off for a necropsy at Auburn's Vet school.
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That was last month, since then she's learned of many others who say their pets were also victimized at Shotwell's Iron Grip training facility.
Dana Ryan says her dog, Chuma, was mistreated at the Shotwells.
She says, “Just skinny, nose scuffed up eyes, red and goopy. I mean, it’s just stark. The difference from what he looked like when I took him compared to what he looked like when I got him back.”
Ryan took her dog for training last year. She's one of the lucky ones, she says he appeared to be underweight and sickly, but he survived.
She says, “It was just devastating to me. And I my intuition probably told me, don't leave him. But then you're thinking you're just you're just getting tugged at your heart strings because you're leaving your baby.”
Boyce and Ryan are among more than a dozen who say their pets were mistreated, killed, or disappeared at the Shotwells. They've formed a Facebook page to share their horror stories and push for justice for their pets. Boyce says, “I'm not giving up. That's all I can say. I'm not giving up.”
Savanah Shotwell was released on bond. A Talladega County Sherriff's deputy says the investigation is ongoing and more charges could be filed.
This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.