Former Alabama football standout and current NFL defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs is facing animal cruelty charges.
Tuscaloosa County court documents filed Wednesday allege two dogs – a Pitbull and a Rottweiler mix – were found severely malnourished and neglected. One has since been euthanized.
The records state the dogs were found at a home rented by Buggs, who neighbors say moved out in March. He reportedly owed more than $3,000 in back rent when he left.
Buggs, 27, played at the University of Alabama in 2017 and 2018. He is currently with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Court records did not yet list an attorney for Buggs.
On March 28, Tuscaloosa police received information of two dogs being left on the back of a home on Diamond Circle.
Tuscaloosa police and City of Tuscaloosa Animal Control went to the house and found a grey and white Pitbull on the screened-in back porch surrounded by feces, according to court records. They also found a black Rottweiler mix locked in a metal cage in direct sunlight with no access to food or water.
Both animals were seized that day because they were “severely malnourished, emaciated, neglected,” and the residence appeared to be abandoned.
A neighbor told investigators the house had been rented by Buggs. A notice of termination had been served on Buggs on April 15 because $3,116.90 in back rent was owed, according to the documents. Witnesses told police Buggs moved out of the house about March 19.
The Pitbull was euthanized at the Tuscaloosa County Metro Animal Shelter at the end of April because of the animal’s “increasingly aggressiveness” and failed heartworm treatment provided by the shelter.
The Rottweiler, records state, weighed 52 pounds which experts said was extremely low for a 3-year-old dog of that breed.
Authorities, according to the documents, were unable to get in touch with Buggs.
Authorities obtained two misdemeanor warrants against Buggs for second-degree animal cruelty.
The documents, filed in civil court, said Buggs is “unable, unwilling or unfit” to adequately provide for the dogs and is seeking to have permanent custody awarded to the shelter.
Buggs’ agent, Trey Robinson, sent a statement saying Buggs “vehemently denies the truthfulness of the allegations and charges asserted against him,” according to a social media post shared by Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.
“We believe the City of Tuscaloosa’s decision to file charges today is part of a concerted effort by the City of Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa Police Department to besmirch Mr. Buggs’ name and reputation as part of an ongoing subversive campaign to force the close of his local business Kings Hookah Lounge,” the statement continued.
Robinson wrote that Buggs was arrested twice on misdemeanors at the lounge in two months but the records were not made public.
The statement did not say what charges those arrests were for. AL.com has requested records of those arrests from the city of Tuscaloosa.
“The City used the threat of pursuing and publicizing both the allegations filed today and these arrests as leverage against Mr. Buggs by offering to drop and not pursue them in exchange for his voluntary surrender of his business license,” the statement read.
Buggs, Robinson wrote, declined that offer because he has “serious concerns” about the city’s motives for “deciding to target his business.” Buggs plans to “bring to light” those motives in his legal defense against the animal cruelty charge, the statement read.
A city spokesperson declined to respond to the allegations in the statement when contacted by AL.com for comment.
Buggs re-signed with the Chiefs on Feb. 14 after joining Kansas City’s practice squad in time to go to Super Bowl LVIII with the team last season.
Buggs spent most of his 2023 season with the Detroit Lions before being released on Jan. 2. He signed with the Chiefs two days later.
A sixth-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, Buggs had played 433 defensive snaps in 29 games in three seasons with Pittsburgh when the Steelers released him the day before their finale for the 2021 campaign.
Signed by the Lions just before training camp in 2022, Buggs played in all 17 games, with 13 starts, for Detroit that season. He recorded 46 tackles, one sack, 10 quarterback hits, two pass breakups and one forced fumble while on the field for 755 defensive snaps.
Rather than become an unrestricted free agent last offseason, Buggs signed a two-year, $4.5 million contract extension with the Lions that included a $1 million signing bonus and $2.1 million in guaranteed money.
But during the 2023 season, Bugg was designated as a game-day inactive six times by the Lions. He made three starts in 10 games and recorded 12 tackles and one sack before Detroit waived him with a game remaining on its regular-season schedule.
Al.com sports reporter Mark Inabinett contributed to this report.
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