On a dozen felony animal cruelty charges, a Simms, Texas, man is being held in the Bowie County jail on $1.2 million bail after he is accused of choking and bashing dogs and puppies to death.
According to a probable cause document, officials allegedly became aware of 23-year-old Stuart Duncan Hammonds after a woman whose dogs and puppies claimed to have received information that made her assume Hammonds killed her dogs. According to the complaint, detectives found the skeletal remains of multiple dogs and smelled the stench of decay when they visited the rural Bowie County home where Hammonds was residing last week.
Investigators were informed by a witness that Hammonds would obtain animals from internet sources and would pick up and bring home dogs and pups that belonged to other people. According to the affidavit, the witness claimed to have witnessed Hammonds “choking and slamming them around until they died” in order to kill a neighbor’s dogs and puppies.
The affidavit stated that detectives discovered the bodies of seven dogs strewn throughout a barn on the site and close to a camper where Hammonds was residing. According to the affidavit, other remains were found close to the barn behind a cardboard box and rubber mat.
According to the affidavit, investigators identified the remains as belonging to the following dogs: a German Shepherd, a black and white Great Dane, an adult female mixed-breed dog, a Pitbull dog of an unknown color, two Beagle-type dogs, three six-month-old mixed breed puppies, two black and tan hound-type dogs, and an adult female mixed-breed dog.
“A seizure warrant for the two Great Danes previously described was obtained to preserve life as a result of this investigation thus far, as it is believed that Hammonds has been cruelly torturing and killing dogs on his property,” the document stated.
According to the affidavit, the live Great Danes were brought to the DeKalb Animal Control Center for housing and will be examined by a veterinarian.
If found guilty, Hammonds faces two to ten years in prison for each of the twelve charges of animal cruelty. The Bowie County Public Defender’s Office is his attorney. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp is in charge of representing the state.
Judge John Tidwell of the 202nd District has been given the cases.
