CUMBY, Texas (KETK) \u2014 56 dogs were seized from a property in Hopkins County, just weeks after a video surfaced on social media showing the owner shooting at a dog and leaving it for dead.<\/p>\n
The owner\u2019s attorneys told KETK News on Monday that the video\u2019s portrayal and the ensuing speculation on social media are misleading. Here\u2019s what we know:
\nGiant German Shepherds<\/p>\n
Kristine Hicks and her family own and operate the Giant German Shepherd\u2019s Ranch in Cumby, where a variety of German Shepherds are bred to serve as family companions, guard dogs, service dogs or working dogs.<\/p>\n
Hicks\u2019 attorney states that for over 20 years, Hicks and her family have been \u201clegally breeding, raising and rescuing\u201d German Shepherds. They have provided dogs to officers in Dallas, Fort Worth and the Waco area. Additionally, the dogs they have bred have been sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to Army Special Forces and they have donated puppies to disabled Marine veterans.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir reputation with law enforcement, military and civilian customers is impeccable and their accolades and experience speak for themselves,\u201d her attorney\u2019s office said.
\nArrest made, dogs seized<\/p>\n
The Hopkins County Sheriff\u2019s Office said Hicks was arrested on Dec. 21 and was charged with cruelty to a non-livestock animal. Additional state and federal agencies have been contacted for assistance in the ongoing investigation into the ranch.<\/p>\n
Hicks\u2019 lawyers claim that the dog killed in the video had a large mass of tissue that was dragging on the ground and causing the animal discomfort.<\/p>\n
Hicks welcomed investigators and the Animal Investigation and Response team to the property on Jan. 1 for an animal welfare check. Their statement claimed that an investigator told them there was no criminal neglect at the ranch.<\/p>\n
Yet, shortly after their visit, federal law enforcement contacted the SPCA of Texas to assist in removing the dogs from the property.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis situation required an immediate and coordinated response for a large number of animals, and we are grateful for our experienced and compassionate staff members whose expertise is critical in providing lifesaving care,\u201d SPCA of Texas senior vp and chief operating officer MeLissa Webber said.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, SPCA staff loaded 56 dogs into crates and took them to the Russell E. Dealey Animal Rescue Center, where they plan to medically evaluate and forensically examine the animals.<\/p>\n
Threats made to Hicks<\/p>\n
Hicks and her family have received countless death threats since the video surfaced.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery night has become a nightmare as they attempt to return to a sense of normalcy, not knowing whether further verbal or direct threats to their lives will occur. Kerra, the dog referenced in the video, had developed a grapefruit-sized mass on her breast tissue that was dragging on the ground and causing significant discomfort,\u201d Hicks\u2019 lawyers said. \u201cThey have been fully cooperative with the Hopkins County Sheriff\u2019s Office and the Animal Investigation and Response team throughout multiple visits to their property and look forward to clearing their names in court.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CUMBY, Texas (KETK) \u2014 56 dogs were seized from a property in Hopkins County, just weeks after a video surfaced on social media showing the owner shooting at a dog and leaving it for dead. The owner\u2019s attorneys told KETK News on Monday that the video\u2019s portrayal and the ensuing speculation on social media are … Continue reading 56 dogs taken from East Texas business after owner caught shooting dog<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1470669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 06:03:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1470669"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1471230,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470669\/revisions\/1471230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1470669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1470669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1470669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}