Major Animal Cruelty Investigation Underway in Vance Again

A Vance man accused of extreme animal cruelty in 2013 has been arrested again after more than 30 dogs, many malnourished, were allegedly found on his property last week.

In court documents filed on Monday, investigators stated that a sheriff's deputy performed a welfare check at a residence on Booler Road in Vance on September 12th.

There, TCSO allegedly found about 10 malnourished dogs outside the property and one dog hanging out of a window at the residence. Inside, deputies saw at least 20 more dogs, and one of them was dead in the living room.

The owner of the residence, Ricky Allen Martin, was arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals for the deceased canine, and an investigation is still underway into the condition of the other animals found there. Additional charges may yet be filed.

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Sadly, this is not the first time Martin has been accused of this kind of behavior - in 2013, Ricky Allen Martin and Glenda Kay Martin were arrested and each charged with nine counts of felony aggravated animal cruelty after seven emaciated dogs and two malnourished cats were found at the same Vance address.

Then Chief Deputy Ron Abernathy, now the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff, called it "some of the worst cases of Animal Cruelty" he'd seen in a statement at the time.

Court documents show the Martins pleaded guilty in 2014, but to one felony charge and eight counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, not the nine felonies with which they were initially charged.

In exchange for the plea, they avoided jail and prison time and spent six months in community corrections before being placed on supervised probation.

Ricky Martin, now 52, was placed in the Tuscaloosa County Jail on the new 2025 animal cruelty charge and has been released on a $2,500 bond with a condition that he not be around any animals.

The TCSO investigation into the condition of the animals found in the 2025 case is still underway.

For updates on this story and more coverage of crime and courts in Tuscaloosa, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.