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Times Staff WriterPolice say James E. Keister Jr. and Anastasia C. Usher used some of the 24 dogs for fighting.
TAMPA - Two weeks after Tampa police and animal services investigators removed 24 pit bullterriers from their north Tampa duplex apartment, James E. Keister Jr. and Anastasia C. Usher have been arrested on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including animal cruelty, facilitating animal fighting and confining animals without food and water.
Keister, 24, and Usher, 26, were arrested Tuesday night at their apartment, 10004 N 11th St. Usher was released on $1,500 bail. Keister remains in jail, with bail set at $33,000, according to county records. Keister's criminal record includes arrests on charges of child abuse, burglary, theft and drug possession.
When authorities searched the apartment Sept. 21, they said they found dogs crammed in outdoor cages and locked rooms, in some cases with nothing to eat or drink. A few of the dogs had cuts, small puncture wounds or scars - signs they've been used in organized dog fights, investigators said. Others were emaciated.
Keister and Usher were charged in June with two counts each of animal cruelty, after investigators said they found similar conditions inside the apartment.
Keister and Usher pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges, but the case was continued following their arrests last month.