CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On Oct. 24, 2021, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department Animal Care & Control officers found themselves at Earl Hamilton's home on Leopold Place in northeast Charlotte.
Dispatched to investigate reports of "life-threatening animal cruelty," the officers said the findings there were concerning enough to return early the next morning with a search warrant to seize 29 dogs from the property. Hamilton, 43, was charged with dogfighting, animal cruelty and cruel restraint. Over months, and eventually years, he would see legal proceedings in his case continue.
Then, in October 2023, nearly two years to the day since his case began, Hamilton pleaded guilty to 32 offenses, including felony dogfighting, felony animal cruelty and misdemeanor cruelty charges. As his punishment, he had to surrender six dogs that remained in his care during his court proceedings and was banned from owning another animal for five years. By then, three of his original dogs had died or had to be humanely euthanized for medical reasons.
Immediately, following the resolution of the case, some of Hamilton's remaining dogs, which were held at the county shelter as evidence for nearly two years, were humanely euthanized over behavioral concerns. As of Dec. 18, CMPD Animal Care and Control said it had secured positive initial outcomes for 15 other dogs, which are now undergoing further behavioral evaluation with animal rescues.
"It's absolutely a slap on the wrist," Jackie Bonner-Farnham, a board member with Unchain America, said when the case was resolved.
As upsetting as it has been for many animal advocates, the conclusion of this case is rather common in North Carolina, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said.
"Even the most serious offenses for animal cruelty and dogfighting sort of top out at what is commonly referred to as a low-level felony, a Class H felony," Merriweather said. "So, for each of those, a judge could sentence someone to a prison sentence, but it's more likely that they would set a probationary sentence, and that's what happened in this hearing."
Merriweather said animal cruelty cases do not always register with people as being a high-level concern, but they should.
"People often don't consider what really is at stake," Merriweather said. "First of all, obviously, we're talking about animals that can't come in and testify for themselves. They are, by definition, a vulnerable entity."
"This is a factor in judging the lethality of a domestic violence offender," Merriweather further explained. "If someone is willing to harm an animate being then we know that it's not that much of a leap and a jump, before they commit that same sort of violence before a human being."
State lawmakers are the ones who determine the policies dictating maximum punishments for these types of crimes, Merriweather noted.
John McHugh, state legislative director for the ASPCA's South Atlantic region, said attempts have been made to update North Carolina's animal laws, which he said lag behind most of the country and have not seen any major changes in about two decades.
"Looking at first offenses for dogfighting, North Carolina is in the bottom 10% of all states," McHugh said.
"We introduced a bill this past session to increase the penalty from a Class H to a Class F felony, which would put us in the big middle-third of all states in terms of a first offense," McHugh added, noting the measure, Senate Bill 457, would have offered the likelihood of prison time for even first-time dogfighters. The legislation, however, did not pass, failing to make it out of committee.
"None of these issues get any traction if we don't have advocates that are elected officials that push for them," McHugh said.
Merriweather said sometimes that takes citizens making the push to elected officials.
"Let them know that it's important to them and maybe should be more than just a Class H felony, that they should be taken seriously as an indicator of violence, not just to animals but to human beings as well," Merriweather said.
Contact Vanessa Ruffes at vruffes@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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