Animal cruelty gets Van Zandt County man six years in prison

VAN ZANDT COUNTY – A Van Zandt County man was sentenced to six years in a state prison in September after pleading guilty to animal cruelty charges to non-livestock animals. According to our news partner KETK, an SPCA reports said James Henry Eubanks was arrested on Jan. 19 after an investigation led to the removal of 10 “cruelly treated dogs” from a property near Wills Point.

The SPCA release also detailed, “At the time of this investigation, about 6 p.m., the temperature in the area was 15 degrees Fahrenheit. A total of 10 Pitbull-type dogs were confined to the property. Six of the dogs were separated out and confined to their own kennels and of those six dogs, three were deceased. The four remaining dogs were running loose on the property and were attempting to find a windbreak from the freezing wind. Investigators were not able to locate any food available to the dogs and all water sources on the property were frozen solid. Eubanks was identified as the caretaker of the dogs.”

Courtney Burns, SPCA of Texas chief investigator of the Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit concluded in the release, “Animal crimes are notoriously known to yield weak punishments, so getting a sentence of six years in prison is a tremendous win for the SPCA of Texas and Van Zandt County.”