Dana_Fowle's Blog

A local dog trainer was recently found guilty of 12 counts of animal cruelty and one count of operating a kennel without a license.

Terry Fowler ran Fowl Play Kennels when someone turned him into Newton County Animal Control. When investigators arrived they found dogs living in a truck made for animals, but, according to their report, the animals had no water and some were over-heated.

But that's not the case many in the dog training industry remember about Mr. Fowler.

They remember the case of Biscuit, the family Lab who returned from Mr. Fowler's training camp severely beaten.

Fowler was charged, but the statute of limitations ran out.

Biscuit's vet, Dr. Linda Brooks, said she'd never seen anything like his injuries.

She told the I-Team, "It was real unusual to see this much trauma if he had not been hit by a car or hit by a truck.

This is just one of the pictures of Biscuit's broken teeth. He also had a fractured jaw.

Biscuit's owner, Mark Owen, remembers this conversation with the dog trainer before he pulled Biscuit from the camp.

The assistant district attorney in Biscuit's case said it was just too tough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt who hurt the dog while he was at this camp learning to become a hunting dog yet remain a family dog.

"He said, 'I pulled him off, pinned him to the ground and duct-taped his mouth shut.' Duct-taped his mouth shut. And I said, 'I didn't bring my dog up here to be abused.'"

Again, the statute of limitations ran out on Biscuit's case. In the latest incident, Terry Fowler, according to his sentence, will be forced out of the dog training business for awhile.

The judge sentenced him to two years probation, a $2000 fine and 40 hours community service. While on probation he can't own any dogs other than the seven he already owns and he can't run a kennel.