Arrest warrants have been issued for alleged animal cruelty for three men who reportedly reside and work at a marijuana grow house.
The charges were filed against Liang Chen, Dong Dong Lin, and Jackie Lin on August 7 in the Beckham County District Court.
The investigation began on April 23 when an Elk City Animal Control supervisor contacted a detective about multiple suspects reportedly dumping “sick” Doberman puppies at the Elk City Animal Shelter.
The shelter had video of the alleged incident.
The suspects were reportedly driving a white van with Texas tags.
The driver of the van had a mask on, as did the two passengers.
On May 1, the animal control supervisor contacted the detective and said that she had located the van on North 1990 Road outside of Elk City.
“The van was at the location of the residence and what appeared to be a marijuana grow location as well,” the detective wrote.
On May 14, the detective executed a search warrant on the location.
The Beckham County Sheriff ’s Offi ce, the Elk City Police Department and an investigator from the District Attorney’s Office conducted the search.
The detective learned that the suspects allegedly did not know the puppies were sick.
The suspects also reportedly stated that they had called the animal shelter for help, but learned that they could not help because their location was outside of the city limits.
They were also informed that they could not just drop the dogs off, especially at night.
During the search, investigators reportedly found a receipt to a vet that allegedly reflected that the dogs had been diagnosed with Coccidia.
The puppies were later moved to Safe Haven Animal Rescue.
