30-year-old ISAIAH BETHANY (pictured), an employee of Memphis Animal Services, was arrested and is facing charges after authorities discovered several neglected dogs and puppies as well as evidence of a dogfighting operation at his South Memphis home.
Memphis Police provided Voice For Us with the press release according to which on the early afternoon of Friday, June 5, 2026, detectives responded to a property on 712 East Gage to serve a narcotics search warrant.
Once inside the property, “detectives noticed a large dog inside a metal kennel in the dining room area. The dog did not have access to food or water.”
The press release went on to state: “Another dog was located inside the kitchen area in a metal cage. The dog did not have access to food or water and had bandages on both ears as if the ears had been cut or trimmed for looks.”
In the bedroom, authorities found a metal pen with nine puppies inside. The pen was covered with feces and the poor puppies were forced to walk through it. There was no food or water for the poor souls.
In addition to the pen containing the puppies, authorities found “multiple medications for dogs” and a laptop with a sticker that read “Mastif Mafia Kennels” believed to be used for transactions and other information about the dogs.
As authorities continued the search, they found six more large dogs in the backyard. Three of them were in metal kennels that had dirty drinking water, and the other three were chained up to a tree. The chains were “short” and “thick”, said Memphis Police.
One of the chained dogs was bleeding from the mouth and “could not reach his water bowl that had dirty water inside”, stated the release.
The other two chained dogs did not have any water at all.
At some point, detectives noticed a tether hanging from the center of a cage and several other tethers hanging from various objects throughout the yard. Detectives knew that to be common with training dogs to fight.
Additionally, detectives found what appeared to be an ear cutting kit containing scissors, bandages that matched what was on some of the dogs ears, and tape to secure the bandages.
The search further led to the discovery of a tote with multiple syringes, boxes of dewormer, and other medications in unmarked bottles.
Memphis Animal Services responded to the scene and took possession of all of the furvictims.
During the search warrant, BETHANY arrived at the house and told authorities all of the dogs were his.
BETHANY was taken into custody and issued a summons by Memphis Animal Services.
The agency published a post on their Facebook page regarding this case which read: “The City of Memphis has zero tolerance for animal cruelty.
When Memphis Animal Services became aware of allegations involving one of its employees, MAS fully cooperated with the investigation and supports the enforcement actions that followed.”
Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from the press release provided to Voice For Us by the Memphis Police Department. Please note that details may be removed or new information added should updates become available.
In the case of charges being dropped, dismissed, or the case being purged, this article will be rectified accordingly, if official documentation is provided to Voice For Us.
BETHANY’s mugshot provided to Voice For Us by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
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