Texas owner charged with starving dogs said feeding them ‘too expensive,’ warrant says
In late 2019, LaFrance Fusilier use to feed his three pit bulls — Brownie, Midnight and Blue — twice a day in the back yard of his home in southeast Fort Worth.
But he changed to feeding them just once a day “because it got too expensive,” according to a warrant.
Fusilier also told Fort Worth detectives he was gone for one week and he paid a “junkie” to feed his dogs, but that person fed the pets cheap dog food.
Fusilier gave those reasons for his dogs being found starving in January by police, who observed ribs and hip bones showing on the canines, according to the warrant obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Thursday.
An animal cruelty investigation led to Fusilier’s arrest on Wednesday in Fort Worth.
The Fort Worth man was charged Thursday with three counts of cruelty to nonlivestock animals, according to Tarrant County criminal court records.
Information on the condition of the dogs as of Friday was not available.
Detectives began an investigation in January after receiving a tip that three starving dogs were in the back yard at a Fort Worth home.
When they went to the home, detectives saw that the dogs were tethered in the yard.
The dogs had inadequate shelter, staying in plastic dog kennels with holes at the top, according to the warrant. A detective told Fusilier that if it rained water would get through the holes into the crates.
Two of the dogs had unclean, dirty and muddy water to drink, the warrant said.
The dogs also were starving, Detective J. Mullins wrote in the warrant.
After telling detectives that he had changed their feeding, Fusilier was told that feeding them once a day was not enough.
Detectives used the analogy that you don’t feed children one time a day.
Fusilier said they are dogs, not children, according to the warrant.
Detectives also noted that Fusilier had not provided medical care for the dogs and the crates had water pooled on the bottom so the dogs got wet just by walking through them.
