Halifax County Man Arraigned for Cruelty After PETA Finds Starving, Chained Dog
For Immediate Release:
March 26, 2026
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
Earlier today, Halifax County resident Marcus Leon Bowser was arraigned on a criminal charge of cruelty to animals following PETA fieldworkers’ discovery of a desperately sick, severely emaciated, chronically starved pit bull named Cash chained in Bowser’s yard last month. Bowser’s next court date is scheduled for May 12 at the Halifax County Courthouse. Video of Cash is available here and photos of Cash are available here.
On February 26, during a routine check, PETA fieldworkers found Cash with his spine, ribs, and hipbones jutting out. He was being kept tethered outside—which is illegal in Halifax County—by a short and extremely heavy metal chain attached to a tree. The chain was so tangled that Cash could barely access his plastic doghouse, his only protection from the elements. The area around Cash’s doghouse was mostly flooded, leaving him with no escape from the cold and pouring rain. After convincing Bowser to hand over custody of Cash, fieldworkers rushed Cash to an emergency veterinary clinic, where he was found to be “chronically starved” and suffering from a heavy parasite infestation, heartworm disease, anemia, and ehrlichiosis, a tick-borne disease.
Cash, who should have weighed at least 50-60 pounds, was only 29 pounds—and the chain he had been tethered by weighed more than a third of that, at 10 pounds. Cash spent a few days undergoing treatment at PETA’s animal shelter, but due to his advanced and serious condition, a veterinarian recommended that his suffering be ended, and he was euthanized.
“Imagine being trapped at the end of a tight, tangled chain that weighs a third of your body weight, famished but unable to scavenge for food, parched but unable to reach clean water, unable to escape the cold or even stay dry,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA reminds everyone that if you are unwilling or unable to feed, water, shelter, and provide medical care to a dog, you shouldn’t get one.”
Every year, PETA’s fieldworkers visit thousands of neglected dogs throughout North Carolina—forgotten, ignored, often found without shade, drinkable water, or any other way to cool down (or stay warm and dry in winter). Dogs relegated to the outdoors are often deprived of veterinary care, exercise, companionship, or even a kind word and are kept confined to the same few square feet of space day in and day out. That’s why PETA urges everyone to keep dogs indoors and works with government officials to require adequate food, water, and veterinary care to prevent suffering.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
