JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It's a jarring case of animal cruelty that has landed a Jacksonville woman behind bars, again.
On Thursday, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office as well as Animal Care and Protective Services (ACPS), joined together to rescue 56 dogs from two Westside properties. The woman who owns the properties, Yhristina Hawkins, was charged with animal cruelty back in December as well; JSO says 74 dogs were seized from "deplorable conditions." Hawkins is also charged with resisting an officer without violence from Thursday's arrest.
Paul Peek was also arrested on animal cruelty charges at the same address as Hawkins. Officers had to breach a home with a sledgehammer to arrest them, an arrest report states.
According to Hawkins' initial arrest report, dogs were wallowing in their own feces and some had injuries consistent with dog fighting. She faces 31 animal cruelty charges from December 2023. Her bond on those charges is now revoked after another felony animal cruelty charge was brought against her.
Hawkins faced a judge for a second time Friday morning for the new charges.
"Those dogs came from a very stressful situation," said ACPS Chief Michael Bricker.
Currently, the 56 dogs rescued are being housed at ACPS in Downtown Jacksonville and is where they have a new lease on life. Benny is one of the 56 dogs rescued. Bricker said his story and other dogs' is about to take a good turn.
"We did get a couple pre-adoptions for dogs in this case, but we've adopted other dogs because of this," said Bricker. "We're getting a lot of people interested and invested, calling, texting and showing up."
ACPS said there was a line of people waiting to adopt the dogs when they opened their doors Friday morning.
"I'm a dog lover, so is everybody in my family," said Josh Schiedenhelm, one of the people who adopted one of the rescued dogs on Friday. "I think all dogs need a good home and when people are abusing animals, I figured I'd do my part, step up and give a good home to one of these animals."
ACPS hopes all of the rescued dogs, as well as their other animals, find good homes in Jacksonville. Click here to visit their website, which includes dates and times that they're open.
Hawkins and Peek are each due in court on March 28.