Second arrest made in dog deaths

A second person has been arrested on charges stemming from the deaths of 23 dogs in rural Hall County last week, according to the Hall County Sheriff's Department.

Roland Bowling, 50, of 2534 W. North Front St. in Grand Island was charged Monday in Hall County Court with being an accessory to a felony, which is a Class IV felony, and providing false information to law enforcement officials.

If convicted, the charge of accessory to a felony carries up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. If convicted, the charge of providing false information to law enforcement officials carries a 1 year prison term and a $1,000 fine.

In court Monday, Bowling said he has lived in Grand Island for five years and prior to that he lived in Hastings for 12 years.

Bowling said he could not afford an attorney and was given a court-appointed attorney.

His bond was set at $15,000 and his court hearing was set for Oct. 6 at 1:30 p.m.

Denise Withee, 46, of Mapleton, Iowa, was also arrested in the case on Saturday. Charges are pending against Withee, who is not lodged at the Hall County Jail, according to the sheriff's department.

On Saturday, the sheriff's department released information that Withee was arrested in Grand Island in connection with the deaths of the 23 dogs whose bodies were found in a cornfield a quarter-mile west of Quandt and Prairie roads last Thursday and was being housed at the Hall County Jail.

Officials from the Hall County Attorney's Office could not comment on the discrepancy in where Withee is being held.

The investigation into the case is continuing.

On Saturday, when Withee was arrested, the sheriff's department said a microchip implanted in one of the dead dogs led them to Withee. Withee reportedly is in the business of buying and selling dogs in and around the state of Iowa.

At the time of her arrest, an additional 13 dogs were seized. Those dogs are being cared for by the Central Nebraska Humane Society.

The sheriff's department said it cited Withee for three counts of animal abandonment in that serious injuries to the animals resulted after the act. The potential charges are Class IV felonies.

Withee is being investigated for a similar incident by the Monona County Sheriff's Department, where Mapleton is located.

Steve Allen, assistant Monona County attorney and full-time prosecutor, said he was aware of Withee's arrest in Hall County, "but I haven't received any official reports and as far as I know, nothing has been filed here."

Allen said that the Monona County Sheriff's Department is investigating Withee in a similar case of animal abandonment involving more than two dozen dogs that were found abandoned along a county road last Sunday near Withee's hometown of Mapleton.

"It was my understanding that the dogs were not dead, but they were running lose and had been released from somewhere," Allen said. "I'm not sure where they were kept."

Allen said he wasn't sure whether the Monona County Sheriff's Department was investigating the incident and going to file charges or investigating at the request of Hall County authorities.

The Hall County case began when a dog was spotted Thursday afternoon near the corner of a cornfield north of Prairie Road by two people who were driving by the field.

When those people stopped to investigate, they saw more dogs, which resulted in the Central Nebraska Humane Society and Hall County Sheriff's Department responding to the scene.

Eventually, 23 dogs were discovered in the cornfield. Three dogs were alive, but two of them died while people were still working at the scene. A third dog, which was pregnant, died en route to the Grand Island Veterinary Hospital.

The veterinarian at the clinic took tissue samples to try to determine the dog's cause of death.

A syringe without a needle was found in the cornfield. It was confiscated to see if it has any connection to the dogs' deaths.

The animals, none of which were puppies, were a variety of breeds: pugs, Yorkies, terriers, terrier mixes, dachshunds and labradoodles

 None of the dogs had identification tags, but authorities said in their initial follow-up report on Friday that one of the dogs had an implanted microchip.