Arrest in Ala. Dog Deaths

LILLIAN, Ala. —  A former Florida dog track security guard was charged with animal cruelty Wednesday after the remains of as many as 3,000 greyhounds were found on his property.

Robert Rhodes, 68, said he profited for more than 40 years by killing injured or aging dogs with a gunshot to the head at the request of racing dog owners, but is no longer in the business.

Florida officials were investigating allegations that dogs from Pensacola Greyhound Park, where Rhodes used to work, were improperly destroyed.

Rhodes said before his arrest that he sometimes received $10 for shooting a dog and that he believes track officials had turned him in.

“I don’t condone cruelty to animals in any way,” Rhodes said. David Whetstone, Baldwin County district attorney, said autopsies of four dogs found that only one had been shot cleanly through the brain. The others received wounds through the neck and elsewhere, indicating they suffered before dying, he said.

State officials obtained a warrant Tuesday to search Rhodes’ 18 acres of coastal property in Lillian after receiving a tip and looking at satellite images that showed animal bones strewn about the property.