A South Florida man is facing dozens of animal cruelty charges after authorities say they removed more than 200 animals that were found living in deplorable conditions on a southwest Miami-Dade property.
Devir Dehry, 50, was arrested Tuesday on 40 counts of abandoning an animal without food or shelter, 20 counts of cruelty to animals with intent to injure or kill, and 2 counts of confining an animal without food, water or exercise, according to a Miami-Dade Police arrest warrant.
According to the warrant, Dehry is the owner and landlord of a property at 26700 Southwest 182nd Avenue, where the animals were discovered after an officer responded to a landlord-tenant dispute in late December. When the officer arrived, he found hundreds of domestic farm animals in a wooded area with a small clearing, with no fencing or pens other than a perimeter fence, the warrant said.
The officer found animals huddled under the only shelter on the property, which was a roof supported by poles. More than 80 percent of the clearing was covered with sharp coral rock, there was feces and urine coating all surfaces and the animals had no bedding or soft places to rest, the warrant said.
Half of the animals appeared to be goats and sheep, but there were also horses, donkeys, miniature horses, cows, swine, emus, llamas, and alpacas. There were also a number of fowl including turkeys, geese, ducks, chicken and guineas.
There were several children's wading pools with small amounts of dirty, stagnant water in them, and the property had a moat with stagnant green water in it, the warrant said. There was a livestock trailer on the property with alfalfa hay inside but small animals had trouble accessing it, the warrant said.
"The large animals kicked and stomped on the smaller animals when they continued to try and access the feed," the warrant noted.
Local
The animals were fed bags of low-grade domestic animal feed that was spread on the ground, and all species were fed the same and not given species-specific food, the warrant said.
Many animals had "clear signs of physical distress" and more than two dozen were limping, the warrant said. When the animals were evaluated, the "vast majority" of the females were pregnant or had recently given birth, the warrant said.
A total of 206 animals were removed from the property and four had to be euthanized, while a llama died of starvation, the warrant said. Some 60 animals required extensive medical treatment, and there were also bones from decomposed animals that were visible in various locations around the property, the warrant said.
The tenant said he was given a camper trailer to live in on the property in exchange for feeding the animals. He said he advised Dehry about the animals needing medical care on numerous occasions but no care was provided, the warrant said.
Dehry told the officer he wouldn't pay for veterinary care when he could buy a new animal for less money, the warrant said.
Dehry was booked into jail, where he was being held on $420,000 bond Tuesday, records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.
