Note: Kenji X was found guilty on nine firet-degree misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty on Jan. 20, 2011.
The tip-off was a wandering puppy found with its face punctured along Sederholm Path in Palm Coast’s Seminole Woods in early March.
Palm Coast Animal Control was familiar with one particular two-story residence there, at 45 Sederholm, which a man who goes by the name of Kenji X bought in November 2006. The address was familiar to Flagler County Sheriff’s Office detective Elizabeth Conrad, too. Conrad specializes in tracking down illegal animal fighting and animal cruelty. A Crime Stoppers report was filed in March 2009 alleging that five aggressive pit bull dogs were being kept in stacked kennels in the garage of the Sederholm house. Earlier the same year an city animal control officer had visited the home to check on a dog reportedly without shelter. Kenji X would not allow the officer a look inside the garage.
On March 8, Conrad and two other detectives investigated the area around the Sederholm home and, using a path through an adjacent wooded lot that does not belong to Kenji X, were able to see nine dogs in the man’s yard, most of them puppies, most of them tethered with heavy chains and weights, most of them looking grim, without food or water. Animal control was summoned and took the dogs away.
It isn’t clear who gave the dogs their names, but once they’d been examined by a veterinarian, some of their conditions were summed up as follows: Jacob, a 4-month-old male weighing about 10 pounds and found with extra weights attached to his collar, had visible scars on his head. Molly, same age, had bite wounds along her body and hair loss. Jake, a 19-pound puppy found with neither food nor water and 8-pound weights attached to his collar, had a puncture wound on his left rear leg and other marks. Dean was discharging heavy green mucus from the nose, indicating a respiratory infection. Curry Girl, about 4 months old, had scarring on the head and an obvious wound behind the left ear.
“Injuries displayed on all dogs are consistent with bite wounds from fighting another dog due to the placement of the marks/scars,” Conrad wrote in her report. “The wounds are in a variety of healing stages, and furthermore, the healing appears to be complicated due to the lack of proper nutrition.”
The day the dogs were take away to a shelter Kenji X would not allow detectives inside the home, saying there were no dogs inside. In April, investigators received two witnesses’ testimonies alleging that they’d seen pit bulls in large dog crates stacked in Kenji X’s garage as well as several adult dogs seen on the property over the past year.
On April 16, detectives served Kenji X with a search warrant. No dogs were found inside his home that day, though the concrete wall against which a small kennel had been placed was stained, and a plywood plank doubled up as a door to the kennel was heavily chewed. A large orange dog collar attached to a heavy duty logging chain dragging a 35-pound flat weight was also found. Investigators concluded that the dogs were being raised and trained to fight. On May 13, Kenji X, 41, was arrested and charged with nine counts of cruelty to animals on $15,000 bond. He posted bond and was released.
elaygee says
and he’s not a disabled vet either so charge h\im with fraud for not paying his property taxes.
Steve says
I think he should be hung by his balls and beaten to a pulp.
mimi says
I agree with Steve, hang him high, beat him and leave him there with 8 lbs weights around his neck with no food or water.
against animal cruelty says
This is the reason that Pitbulls have a bad rep because of idiots like this, a disabled vet huh! I had a pitbull and he has passed on and he was the sweetest dog in the world raised with little dogs and never hurt one of them. But because he was a “PITBULL” people would catagorize him as a mean aggresive dog and he was not. People like this guy are cruel and they should not be allowed to own a dog. I think they should get harder on these type of case and not just a slap in the hand. Look at Michael Vick he got off easy how fair is that and he was a celeberty and he just got his hand slapped like nothing happend. Until they get strick on this type of crime people all over the world are going to continue to abuse these dogs and keep giving them a bad name.