LONDON, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Madison County Sheriff's Office is investigating a potential animal cruelty case after several dogs were allegedly found deceased on a property in Madison County.
Madison County Sheriff’s Lt. Bryan White with the Madison County Sheriff's Office confirmed there was an investigation underway after deputies discovered the disturbing scene during a search of the home on March 14.
Court documents from a related case show that law enforcement officers were tipped off to potentially dangerous conditions at the home. The occupant of the home is a known dog trainer; the trainer is not being named since criminal charges have not been filed at this time.
Those court documents show that the Madison County Sheriff's Office showed up to the residence on March 14 for a potential probation violation related to late restitution payments by the occupant. That court order stems from a felony conviction of the dog trainer for theft by deception.
That indictment and conviction was a result of a charge of taking two dogs that the trainer was responsible for.
Court documents show after deputies arrived to the home on March 14, they asked the man if there were any dead dogs on the property. According to the court documents, he responded by saying, "I already told you, no." The man consented to a search, after which deputies found one deceased dog in a pile of rubble. That led deputies to asking permission for further search, which was granted. Court documents show they found eight additional deceased dogs on the property.
White could not confirm the number of deceased animals found or if there were any other animals on the property since the case is still under investigation.
The court document records what deputies report from the search which said, "He (the trainer) knows the names of every single one,.”
Andre Smith is a well-known dog breeder from California. He has nearly half a million followers on his YouTube channel and breeds dogs for celebrities, athletes, and people all across the world. He breeds a very specific and expensive dog, called an XL American Bully.
Smith sent two dogs, including a puppy named Gaja, to the central Ohio dog trainer more than three years ago. The two dogs were for a client in Ohio who he said paid $10,000 each for the dogs to be trained. But Smith said the issues with the training began almost immediately.
"He received the $20,000,” Smith said. “I had the two dogs shipped over there to him. Right. So now he has custody of the two dogs, and he ghosts us. He goes dark. He doesn't communicate with us anymore. He won't answer our calls anymore. We don't know where the dogs are. We don't know if they're being fed. We definitely don't know if they're being trained.”
Smith had received a recommendation to use this dog trainer after hearing from two other breeders who said the trainer was trustworthy.
"They said they had worked with him previously, that he was very sound in his training, and, you know, he was a man of integrity, which he couldn't be further from the truth," he said.
Smith reached out to those contacts after he didn't hear from the trainer for weeks. He said he got a call from the trainer who said he was sick. Smith shrugged it off, but then didn't hear from the man again for months after he was told he would receive weekly updates about the dogs. Then he got another call from the trainer.
"He calls me again,” Smith said. “Same thing. ‘Hey, man, you know, my mom died. My dad died, I had Covid, my dog had Covid.’ I don't know, whatever. Just a bunch of excuses that just didn't seem real or relevant.”
Months went by without seeing the dogs or any progress from the training. Smith's client decided to pursue legal action.
"He was indicted on two felony charges of theft by deception, and he had to pay back in restitution to my client, $49,566," Smith said.
That case led to the current situation, with deputies knocking on the door of the Foster-Redman Road home for a probation violation. That visit was partially due to tips that there may be something wrong with the animals at the home.
"I'm getting a bunch of DMs on my Instagram, a bunch of messages on my Facebook, bunch of emails saying, ‘hey, you need to find out. There's dead dogs on this property.’ So I'm like, ‘Hey, contact local authorities,;’" Smith said.
To further the violations, authorities accused the dog trainer of falsifying records to allow him to travel to Texas to train dogs with Border Patrol. Court documents show authorities contacted Border Patrol and no such arrangements were made.
Smith's two dogs haven't been seen since he sent them to Madison County more than three years ago.
"We don't know what happened to the dogs, no idea,” he said. “More than likely, they're either deceased or sold. I hate to say that, but I mean, realistically, they're not here anymore.”
“What he said was they were sold on Craigslist, and he has no access to the people that he sold them to. I think they were either sold or killed," Smith added.
The dog trainer was taken into custody on March 14 for a probation violation. He has been in custody ever since. White said investigators will meet with the Madison County Prosecutor this week to discuss evidence and potential charges for animal cruelty.
Meanwhile, Smith hopes this means the trainer is done working with animals.
"I mean, this guy's a monster,” he said. “This guy has no regard for life. I don't even know if he has regard for human life. He definitely has no regard for life. These animals are suffering on his behalf. Somebody has to stop this guy. He's locked up. Don't let him out. Don't let them have access to your animals. And please let the public be aware that there's a monster that wants to get ahold of your dogs.”
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