A call about a dead dog dumped near Belton has led Anderson County investigators to a property where they say they found eight neglected dogs, training equipment, and a portable dog-fighting ring. Five people now face charges ranging from felony animal ill-treatment to littering.
According to the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, deputies with the sheriff's animal control unit opened an investigation on Oct. 20 into the illegal dumping of a deceased dog on property near Gable Drive in Belton. Deputies determined the deceased dog had come from a property near Highway 252 in Belton, the sheriff's office said.
A Tip Leads To More Neglected Dogs
Eight days later, on Oct. 28, deputies received information about alleged animal ill-treatment at that same property. When they responded, they located multiple dogs that were neglected and/or maltreated, per the sheriff's office account. The following day, Oct. 29, detectives executed a search warrant on the property and found eight dogs in total.
Investigators said all eight dogs showed varying degrees of untreated medical conditions resulting from suspected neglect and ill-treatment. Detectives also reported finding items they said were associated with training dogs for illegal dog-fighting activities, including agility and endurance training equipment, medications, human muscle-growth supplements, and a portable dog-fighting ring.
Five Face Charges, Dogs Now Under Veterinary Care
Four people — Cindy Lakeshia Mohedaon, Antonio Miguel Sheriff, Jocelan Jean Pierre, and Frandricha Andrea Mohedano Syder — were each charged with eight counts of felony ill-treatment of animals and one count of felony animal fighting or baiting, the sheriff's office reported. A fifth person, Antoine Ventrail Knight, was charged with one count of littering and one count of failure to bury a deceased animal.
The eight dogs are now safe at Anderson County P.A.W.S., where a licensed veterinarian performed full medical evaluations for each dog and administered treatments, per the same account. The shelter will assess the dogs, who may eventually be placed for adoption or sent to a rescue, though it remains unclear whether either has happened yet.
Part Of A Wider Pattern In South Carolina
The Belton case follows a similar pattern seen elsewhere in Anderson County this year. In a separate case, the sheriff's office animal control unit opened an investigation on Aug. 25 into alleged ill-treatment at a home on Kudzu Road in Anderson, and four dogs were seized from that property on Aug. 29 with conditions consistent with neglect, including severe malnourishment, according to WYFF.
Dog-fighting investigations have also surfaced recently in other parts of the state. In Richland County, SLED agents executed a search warrant at a rural property on Goodside Road in Hopkins and found 11 dogs, as reported by ABC News 4, which noted that the ASPCA has helped SLED with more than 16 dogfighting-related search warrants and rescue operations since 2024, removing more than 200 dogs from suspected dogfighting situations statewide.
That scale of enforcement isn't new. The State reported that a SLED dog-fighting unit opened 18 cases in 2024 alone, protecting 205 dogs and leading to 60 arrests, according to the governor's office. The outlet also reported that state and federal authorities seized 47 dogs in a separate suspected dogfighting operation in 2025.
Other Belton Cases Highlight Recurring Concerns
In yet another Belton-area case, James Louie Conard, 49, was arrested and charged with eight counts of ill-treatment of animals after investigators seized eight malnourished and neglected dogs, including four puppies, according to WSNw Radio. That case is separate from the Gable Drive investigation but reflects a broader concern raised by a Live 5 News report, which found that more than 20 calls to 911 about one Georgetown County property dated back to 2019.
Under South Carolina law, a person may not own or harbor an animal for fighting, or train, torment, badger or bait an animal, according to the South Carolina Legislature's Code of Laws Title 47, Chapter 3. Separately, an archived 2018 version of the state code outlines that an officer or agent taking an animal into custody must provide for it until a court determines the owner can adequately care for and keep custody of it, or until the animal is turned over for humane disposition, per the South Carolina Legislature's archived Code of Laws Title 47, Chapter 1.
