12 dogs were confiscated in
Tuscaloosa County by the sheriff’s office. Investigators were called to look into a child abuse report when they arrived they noticed dogs, emaciated, abused and chained to trees.
“Some of the dogs showed apparent evidence of dog fighting others had injuries and infections that needed medical attention,” says Sheriff Ted Sexton.
“A lot of intestinal parasites between poor nutrition parasitism and having to live in a bad environment it wasn’t good,” says veterinarian Jimmy Canant.
A full grown Pit Bull should weigh at least 50 pounds. One of the dogs confiscated weighed 27 pounds, and was tied to a tree with a chain that weighed more than him.
“A chain weighing a total of 33 pounds was on a dog that weighed 27 pounds,” says Sexton.
Ruben Hedgemond Jr. of Cottondale was arrested Friday and charged with animal cruelty in the second degree. He is also scheduled to appear before the grand jury on a separate child abuse charge. Hedgemond is also a registered sex offender who was aloud to live with his children because he committed his crime before the new sex offender law was passed in 2005. This new animal cruelty charge will change that. He is now not aloud to live with his kids.
