Recent Dogfighting Busts and Why They Matter to Cats and Kittens, Not Just Dogs

With the exception of an April 2019 arrest in Columbus, Ohio, and a November 2019 raid in Toledo, the maps below show recent dogfighting busts that occurred between Buffalo, New York, and Kalamazoo, Michigan, while animal “protective” leagues and societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals closed their doors to the public during COVID, stopped doing trap-neuter-return and told people who’d lost their job and had to move to a cheaper apartment that didn’t allow pets that they were only taking pets on an “emergency basis,” — i.e., hoarding cases.

Why Dogfighting Busts Matter to Cats and Kittens

Dogfighters have been killing cats and kittens to train their pitbulls since at least 2007. A shelter worker warned HuffPost readers not to post cats, kittens and other pets on Craigslist or Facebook in 2015. Michigan State University College of Law’s detailed discussion of dogfighting and its signs of a dogfighting operation reveal how dogfighters use cats and kittens to train pitbulls to attack their opponents. Some, like Columbus, Ohio, dogfighter Charles Granberry, who was arrested in 2016, hang a cat from a catmill that looks like this:

or this:

“The dogs run in circles, chasing the bait,” Michigan State University’s College of Law says. “Once the exercise sessions are over, the dogs are usually rewarded with the bait they had been pursuing.”

Others hang a cat or kitten from a dog treadmill that looks like this:

In 2021, a Brooklyn, New York, couple sicced their dogs on colony cats. In February 2022, an 18-year-old in Orlando chased a cat out of a tree so his pitbulls could kill him/her. He walked home with blood and fur on his clothes. Months later, a 17-year-old and 12-year-old in Philadelphia set down their leashes so their pitbulls could attack a cat named Buddy lying on his porch. They were charged with felony animal fighting. This is the world we live in. Every time you “rehome” a cat or kitten by giving or selling your pet to someone you’ve never met, you are risking that animal’s life.

In the past six months, I have replied to over 10,000 Craigslist ads to warn people about the dangers of posting free and cheap cats and kittens on Craigslist, Facebook, and other apps/websites. Despite how many cats turn up tortured and dead in the news and despite Netflix’s recent “Don’t F___ with Cats” documentary, people still think 10, 20, or 30 bucks will “ensure a good home.” It won’t. When Cleveland dogfighter Angelo McCoy was busted as a result of a drug investigation in January of 2020, he had over $8,500 in cash. When police caught him during a 2014 dogfight in Akron, Ohio, he had over $400 in his pocket and feds found $30,000 in the yard. A New York City dogfighter busted in August 2021 placed a $175,000 bet on a fight. Dogfighters and the people collecting bait animals for them have not only been using Craigslist to communicate with each other, they’ve posted Craigslist ads seeking cats and kittens. If they’re brazen enough to post ads while they’re out on bond, awaiting trial, as McCoy has been since January 2020, they’ll pay for it. Allow me to illustrate:

Recent Dogfighting Arrests, Raids and Investigations

Although a lot of Black people are on the following list of recent dogfighting arrests, which is organized by date and nowhere near complete, it’s crucial to remember that white people — like this guy in Akron, Ohio, who’s collecting cats and breeding kittens for a dogfighter — are just as evil. Sharing this information, that tweet in particular and 10 Signs Your Neighbor Is Fighting Dogs (and Killing Dogs, Cats, Kittens and Rabbits) will help save a lot of lives.

• December 2022: Canton, Georgia: Dogfighter Randall Thaxton of Union Hill Road was “charged with nine counts of felony dogfighting and nine counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty,” according to Fox 5 Atlanta. Police seized nine dogs.

• November 2022: Palm Coast, Florida: Dogfighter Willie Gardner III of of 6 Perotti Place shows the dangers of abandoned/foreclosed properties. Police seized six pitbulls from the back yard of this home at 508 South Railroad Street in Bunnell, Florida.

• “Gardner was already facing a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge on a separate case involving dogs,” the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. “He was scheduled to go on trial in that case Monday, but it was continued. The misdemeanor charge stems from a case in which the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and animal control seized nine dogs, some of them pit bulls, from a property on Knox Jones Avenue [about a 10-minute drive from the abandoned house on Railroad Street].” In addition to scarred and injured pitbulls, Gardner had over 50 incriminating videos on his phone.

• November 2022: Jacksonville, Florida: Dogfighter Terry Thomas wasn’t charged with dogfighting, but police took 20 dogs, two rabbits, “a bite stick, spring pull rope, bait trap, syringes, wound treatment spray and supplements” from his house on Castle Boulevard, News4JAX reported. Instead of being charged with dogfighting, he was charged with “animal cruelty and confining animals without sufficient food and water.”

• November 2022: Dallas, Georgia: Dogfighter Vincent Lemark Burrell, 55, was arrested and police seized 106 dogs — “mostly pit bulls” — at a home that “was not fit for humans or animals.” Burrell is “being held in the Paulding County Jail without bond,” news station KIRO 7 reported.

• October 2022: Tuscumbria and Center Star, Alabama: Dogfighter Lamarcus Ricks was “charged with 17 counts of dogfighting and over 60 counts of animal cruelty” after police seized nearly 90 dogs from two properties, news station WAFF reported. “In 2002, Ricks was charged with the murder of LaPatrick Anderson, he pleaded not guilty to this charge. According to court documents, Ricks changed his plea to guilty but to the lesser charge of conspiracy to commit robbery, 1st degree. Ricks was sentenced to 15 years in prison.”

• October 2022: Madison, MIssissippi: Indianapolis, Indiana, dogfighter Edward Bronaugh was busted during a traffic stop. Police found 11 injured and malnourished pitbulls in crates throughout his van. In 2011, Bronaugh was charged with a battery, resisting law enforcement, disorderly conduct, public intoxication and public nudity after an incident at a church.

• September 2022: Rock Hill, South Carolina: Dogfighter Kelvin Foster was one of nearly two dozen dogfighters busted in six South Carolina counties after police stopped a planned fight and raided properties. Investigators seized 275 pitbulls, 50 of which came from Foster’s property, and 30 beagles.

• August 2022: St. Louis, Missouri: Dogfighter Brian Maclin, 57, was arrested thanks to a tip from the public. After turning himself in, Maclin told police he’s been fighting dogs for 30 years, news station KMOV reported. Investigators seized 13 pitbulls, 12 of which were hidden in a detached garage in dungeon-like conditions. One dog’s jaw was “hanging off of its face,” according to North County Police Cooperative Maj. Ron Martin. [These 13 pitbulls make 312 pitbulls seized from dogfighters since January.] Michael Duke, owner of rescue Max’s Second Chance Express, said he’d suspected there was a dogfighting ring in St. Louis because he kept encountering torn-up dogs and cats, but “no one really took it seriously” until the North County Co-op got involved.

• August 2022: Jacksonville, Florida: Dogfighter Juaron Miller Sr. was caught fighting dogs as police attempted to execute an arrest warrant for domestic violence, news4jax.com reported. “According to investigators, when police arrived at the home and knocked on the door, they heard noises in the backyard, and when they approached that area, they discovered an alleged dogfighting match. The arrest report states that when spectators saw officers approaching, someone yelled ‘police,’ and multiple people started running and jumping the fence to get away.”

• July 2022: Monroe, North Carolina: 19-year-old dogfighter Joshua Mungo was arrested, and police seized 40 adult pitbulls and 10 puppies. “Genine Sturdivant was also charged for misdemeanor cruelty to animals,” WCCB Charlotte reported.

• July 2022: High Point, North Carolina: Dogfighter Toriano Cave, 51, was only charged with “one felony count of owning and/or possessing a dog with the intent that the dog be used in a fight with another animal” even though police seized 15 dogs (three adult male dogs, three adult female dogs and nine recently born puppies) from his home at 1209 Penny Road, greensboro.com reported.

• July 2022: Cleveland, Ohio: Dogfighter Ronald Smith, 39, was arrested in Akron two weeks after U.S. Marshals posted a reward for information leading to his capture. Smith had property in both Akron and Cleveland. Investigators seized 15 pitbulls.

• June 2022: Silver Creek, Georgia: Dogfighter Mekiel Woolfork, 31, was arrested months after police found six “malnourished” pitbulls, the skeletal remains of two puppies, two treadmills and a spring pole that dogfighters use to strengthen pitbulls’ jaws, northwestgeorgianews.com reported. “Woolfork is charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals as well as prohibition of dog fighting and related conduct. He is also charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals and failure to appear in court.” He was denied bond.

• May 2022: Sandersville, Georgia: Police seized 96 pitbulls from dogfighters in three counties (Washington, Johnson and Laurens).
• May 2022: Largo, Florida: Dogfighter Terrell Coley, 38, was arrested and police seized 33 pitbulls, including puppies, as well as “dog-fighting equipment, guns, ammunition and cocaine,” Tampa Bay Times reported. Coley was also caring for two children under age 14 “without food or supplies.”

• April/May 2022: Gastonia, North Carolina: Dogfighter Terrance Cooper was arrested May 27. April 28, police seized 30 dogs, four goats and seven rabbits from  1911 Hemlock Avenue after utility workers reported what you see below. “Cooper is being held at the Gaston County Jail on a $325,000 secured bond,” WSOC-TV reported. Detective J. Brienza is looking for people he fought dogs with. Report them to 704-866-3320 or submit an anonymous tip to CrimeStoppers at 704-861-8000 or online.

• April 2022: Lehigh Acres, Florida: Dogfighters Anthony Pew Sr. and Jr. were arrested thanks to tips from the public. Police seized 16 injured, malnourished pitbulls from two locations, including a home on West 9th Street, CBS12 reported. Police also seized pigs and chickens.

• April/May 2022: Donalson, Georgia: A total of 17 dogfighters from Donalson, Florida, and Panama City, Florida were arrested after a tip sent police to Jessie Mitchell Road April 24. Police arrested 12 people that night and took 27 pitbulls. Police later caught three more people, and “Marvin L. Pulley III, age 50, and Donnametric S. Miller, age 39, turned themselves in to Seminole County Sheriff officers on May 2,” Donalsonville News reported.

1. Gary Hopkins, 65, from Donalsonville, Georgia
2. Robert P. Fioramonti, 35, from Donalsonville, Georgia
3. Kayla E. Stelle, 22, from Panama City, Florida
4. Temichael S. Elijah, 45, from Donalsonville, Georgia 
5. Christopher Brown, 28, from Donalsonville, Georgia
6. Terelle D. Ganzy, 33, from Panama City, Florida
7. Herman Buggs Jr, 54, from Donalsonville, Georgia
8. Brandon A. Baker, 39, from Panama City, Florida
9. Ramar D. Lee, 45, from Donalsonville, Georgia 
10. Robert L. West, 38, from Panama City, Florida
11. Fredricus White, 34, from Panama City, Florida
12. Cornelious Johnson
13. Fredica Buggs, 34
14. Rodrecus Kimble, 41
15. Torris Kimble, 29
16. Marvin L. Pulley III, 50
17. Donnametric S. Miller, 39

• March 2022: Monroe and Winnsboro, Louisiana: Dogfighters Tonie Youngblood, 49, of 105 Thompson Street, Ernest Wallace, 43, of 105 Thompson Street, Ladarrius Jordan, 37, of 45 North Chamingdale Drive, David L. Johnson, 48, of 903 Luther Drive, Tony O. Miles, 30, of 2313 Cypress Street, Tyler M. Williams, 29, of 3007 Earle Drive and Riley C. Williams, 62, of 254 Clayvon Road were arrested after police discovered them behind a “high wooden fence” about 200 yards from a dog kennel on Henry Parker Road. “The wooden floor and two-foot walls are covered with blood stains from past fights,” The Franklin Sun reported. Unlike Texas police who let 100 dogfighters flee as they arrested Jesus Stephens in November 2021, Franklin Parish Sheriff’s Office blocked them so they couldn’t run. “Upon discovering there was no other way out, they exited the vehicles throwing crates containing dogs in bushes and woods. Some dogs were also left behind in locked vehicles,” the Sun reported. Police seized 20 dogs.
• November 2021: Waskom, Texas: Dogfighter Jesus Stephens, 31, was arrested Nov. 14 at what police first thought was “a pasture party” on Strickland Springs Road. After a crowd of approximately 100 people scattered, police found malnourished dogs, weights and “dozens of kennels with blood.” A dog “had to be euthanized due to the severity of its injuries,” KETK reported.

• September 2021 – Anderson, Indiana: Dogfighter James Peterson “was charged with possession or purchase of an animal for fighting, animal fighting contest promoting, cruelty to an animal, misdemeanor possession of animal fighting paraphernalia and … harboring a nonimmunized dog” after a neighbor spotted five dogs “barking and going crazy” outside his mobile home, Fox 59 reported. Police saw those five dogs and six chickens in a cage. When they returned with a search warrant days later, they seized eight injured pitbulls and the injured chickens. “The dogs were placed in individual compartments in an Animal Control vehicle with steel plates separating the cages. According to court documents, the dogs reacted so violently when placed next to each other that at least twice, the dogs were able to break through the walls and attack each other. Witnesses say the dogs were clearly attempting to kill each other, and Officer Owen said he had to use his Tazer on two of the dogs to separate them. According to court documents, an Animal Control officer on scene said he had never seen this level of aggression before.” In September 2022, “Peterson was sentenced to two years in prison and one year in the county jail.

• September 2021 – Meriden, Connecticut: Nearly two months after Connecticut State Police seized eight pit bulls, a dogfighting ring and dogfighting equipment from a home on Brittania Street, police arrested fugitives Getulio Maedo, 46, of Bridgeport, Jose Rivera, 42, of Meriden, and Nelson Rivera, 43, of Meriden. October 5, police took another seven dogs from 968 Grassy Hill Road in Orange. They discovered these guys because they’re connected to the Suffolk County, New York, dogfighters busted in August (below).

• • September 2021 – Battle Creek, Michigan: Labor Day weekend, a woman called police to report “10 to 15 people” in the yard of 203 Cliff Street. “Two people were holding pit bull terriers by their collars facing each other,” and then “a small puppy was dropped between the two larger dogs and was killed,” the Battle Creek Enquirer reported. When police arrived around 1:18 a.m. Monday morning, “the men separated the dogs. A 27-year-old man told officers he was walking past the residence and his dog was attacked by the other. The man denied anyone was fighting dogs. Others who were gathered around declined to talk to officers.” The following Friday, police searched the Cliff Street address and 145 Illinois Street, where they found “one dog with some injuries” and “some written documents and electronic devices.”

• • August 2021 – Lusby and Chaptico, Maryland: Dogfighters Rodney Carlton Rance, 52, and Charles Henry Hall, II, 44, have been charged, respectively, with 40 counts of aggravated animal cruelty (based on allegations that Rance engaged in dogfighting, maintained premises for dogfighting, and possessed equipment and dogs for use in fights) and seven counts of aggravated animal cruelty (based on allegations that Hall engaged in a dogfight and transported dogs for fighting), according to Washington D.C.’s Fox affiliate. 

• • August 2021 – Long Island, New York: Dogfighters William Ashton and Darrel Madison of Mastic; Jontae Barker and Jerome Chapman of Bay Shore; Edward Hodge of Uniondale; Jeffrey Spencer of Wyandach; Paul Whelan of Shirley; Timothy Eury of Hempstead; Charles Macwhinnie of Hampton Bays; and Joseph Owens of Amityville were arrested and 89 pitbulls — 81 from New York and eight from Connecticut — were rescued. Police found “veterinary surgical supplies such as a skin stapler, ‘rape stands’ used to immobilize female dogs during breeding, plugging cords used to electrocute canines, ‘break sticks’ used to [open dogs’ jaws] during a fight, steroids, treadmills, spring poles and more,” NBC News reported. “Though the dogs were subjected to unimaginable cruelty, those who participated in the ring didn’t seem to mind since, according to officials, one person made a $175,000 bet on one fight.”

 

Hampton Bays, New York, dogfighter Charles Macwhinnie

• • July 2021 – Golden Gate, Florida: Dogfighter Rafael Jesus Del-Valle-Jomarron was charged with “four counts of animal cruelty causing cruel death, pain or suffering, one count of animal fighting and one count of selling, possessing or using equipment for fighting or baiting,” according to WINK News. Eight pit bulls, two of which were pregnant, a female hound dog, and an injured rooster were rescued from the 52nd Lane home.

• • June 2021 – Gastonia, North Carolina: Dogfighter Rico Pagan, 49, was arrested after a months-long investigation that “started after community members expressed concerns to animal control,” WSOC-TV reported. Pagan was “charged with three felonious counts of dogfighting. Investigators said the charges are for the training, promotion, and participation in dogfighting. Pagan has also been charged with 12 felonious counts of animal cruelty.”

• • June 2021 – Placerville, California: Carlos Villasenor, 38, was arrested after a U.S. Department of Agriculture special agent bought dogs bred for fighting from Villasenor in May and June. The USDA removed 27 dogs from the property, half of which “were attached to huts or trees by heavy chains,” FOX40 reported. “Many” were injured. Investigators “also found evidence of a dog fighting venture, including a breeding stand and treadmills, as well as veterinary supplies like skin staplers, antibiotics and IV bags,” and they found a Chihuahua — a suspected bait dog.

• • June 2021 – Washington, D.C.: Odell S. Anderson Sr., 52, “pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to violate the animal-fighting prohibitions of the Animal Welfare Act by conspiring with others to sponsor and exhibit dogs in a dog fight, as well as to buy, sell, possess, train, transport, deliver, and receive dogs for the purposes of having those dog participate in animal-fighting ventures. Additionally, Anderson pleaded guilty to one felony count of causing a child under the age of sixteen to attend an animal-fighting venture,” according to the United States Department of Justice. Anderson and three other men — Emmanuel A. Powe Sr., 46, of Frederick, Maryland, Chester A. Moody Jr., 46, of Glenn Dale, Maryland, and Carlos L. Harvey, 46, of King George, Virginia — “were involved in training, transporting and breeding dogs for dogfighting between April 2013 and July 2018,” NBC 12 reported.

• • May 2021 – Warren, Ohio: Dogfighter Stanley Edward Redd Jr., 42, was busted during a drug investigation. Police seized 12 dogs from three locations. “During the search, detectives recovered $62,000 in cash, two firearms, two dog training treadmills, 183 grams of suspected heroin/fentanyl, 41 grams of crack and more than 200 suboxone strips,” according to WFMJ.

• • May 2021 – Sylvania, Georgia: Andrea Lanier, 37, and Christopher Lovett, 37, were charged after police took 35 dogs, including 34 pit bulls, from 184 Acorn Hill Drive. Five dogs had to be euthanized, WTOC reported.

• • April 2021 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: An arson investigation turned into a dogfighting investigation after Philadelphia Fire Department found five dogs and dogfighting “paraphernalia, including bite sticks covered in blood, collars, and scales used to weigh the dogs” and a dogfighting ring, WHYY reported. No one has been arrested yet.

• • April 2021 – Newton, Georgia: Dogfighters John Lee Thomas, Montreal Marquiz Orr, and Ricky Recardo Malone were arrested “at a residence in the 400 block of Clear Lake Road,” per WALB News 10. Eleven dogs, two of which were severely injured, were removed from the property.

• • April 2021 – Prattville, Alabama: Dogfighter Titus Cortez Daniels, 36, was arrested after police, who were responding to a call elsewhere, discovered a dozen pit bulls were “chained in a wooded area off Indian Hills Road,” the Montgomery Advertiser reported. “It’s obvious from the layout what he was doing,” Police Chief Mark Thompson said. “[The] dogs were kept on heavy chains in close proximity to one another, but they couldn’t get to one another. They had old fighting scars and fresh wounds on them.”

• • April 2021 – Dorchester, Massachusetts: Dogfighter Javier Ruperto, 42, was arrested after police found five pit bulls, dogfighting training equipment, “a high-capacity magazine for a gun” and a “significant amount” of marijuana, Boston.com reported. Ruperto, known as Dr. Dog among dogfighters, had been arrested in 2014 and banned from owning dogs in 1997.

• • March 2021 – Leonardtown, Maryland: Woodbridge, Virginia, dogfighter Damien Terrell Wilson was charged with 47 counts of animal cruelty. In February, police “were tipped off to the location of a suspected dogfighting arena located on a SMECO power line cut-through,” the Southern Maryland Chronicle reported.” Those 47 charges include 11 counts of possessing/training a dog to fight; 11 counts of restraining/limiting a dog’s movement; three counts of possessing dogfighting paraphernalia; four counts of causing injury to a dog; and 11 counts of neglecting to provide water and shelter, according to the BayNet police blotter. Police rescued 11 dogs, but three were euthanized after being deemed too aggressive to be rehomed.

• • March 2021 – Madison, North Carolina: Dogfighter Darrick Lorenzo Fuller, 42, was busted after an anonymous tipster reported an internet ad for fighting dogs. When police executed a search warrant, they found 35 scarred and injured dogs, some with broken bones and “teeth that had been worn and filed down,” Fox 8 reported. They also found “a dog treadmill, dog training poles, a breeding rack, multiple vials of lidocaine, dog ear cropping molds, bags of medical equipment and a shock collar.”

• • March 2021 – Daytona Beach, Florida: “Police said they arrested Noble Geathers, 53, Earl Holmes, 50, and Benjamin Ponder, 33, all of Daytona Beach, after they found 42 pit bulls caged mostly outdoors on Reva Street.” The Orlando Sentinel reported that Geathers “told detectives he breeds the dogs and gives them away through a program for ‘children and women in need,’ according to his arrest affidavit. While searching the property, police found medical records for the dogs alongside medications and supplements, including one commonly used in dogfighting rings to boost dogs’ stamina and endurance …”

• • March 2021 – Tacoma, Washington: Dogfighter Elmer Givens Jr.’s case epitomizes the ridiculousness of dogfighting cases in some states. “Deputies were first called to Givens’ property on Nov. 14, 2019 after receiving a complaint about six pit bulls looking starved and cold,” KOMO News reported. Police returned a month later and found 48 more dogs, almost all of which “had scarring on their faces and hind legs, indicative that they were fighting dogs.” Givens was arrested and told he could only have five dogs. In March 2021, someone reported Givens for promoting his dogs on Facebook. Thanks to a neighbor with a drone, police returned to the property to rescue 36 more dogs. Givens flat out told police he’d have more dogs the next day. When police asked how many, he replied something “to the effect of: ‘However many I want to. I’m not afraid of jail. I’ve been to jail, and as long as you ain’t charged me and convicted me, I’m gonna do whatever I want.'” He was arrested but couldn’t be held because of COVID.

• • February 2021 – Hammond, Louisiana: “Officers arrested three people and rescued 12 dogs after finding a dogfighting operation while searching for drugs in a Hammond home, a release said Friday.”

• • February 2021 – East Spencer, North Carolina: Dogfighter Delontay Jaquan Moore, 25, was arrested after an investigation that started in February 2018, according to the Salisbury Post. Twenty-five dogs were taken from Moore’s Welder Street home.

• • February 2021 – Flint, Michigan: Police rescued 15 pit bulls and confiscated “two dog treadmills, a weighted dog sled, and ‘injectable medications/syringes” during a drug investigation that led them to find “a large amount of cocaine and a firearm,” The Detroit News reported. 

• • December 2020 – Jacksonville, Florida: Angelo Ellis, 42, was charged with 72 counts of animal cruelty, animal neglect, and dogfighting, according to news4jax.com. “Former JSO police officer Jim Crosby is one of the nation’s leading experts on dogfighting investigations. He said many people don’t realize there’s a dogfighting pipeline involving a lot of people who try to stay under the radar. ‘You got a pipeline here from Florida that goes down I-10 out to Louisiana,’” Crosby said.

• • October 2020 – Asbury Park, Neptune Township, Freehold and Lakewood, New Jersey – Dogfighters Xavier Reed, 30, Rashad Anderson, 39, Mark McMillian, 43, and Rufus Squarewell, 38, were among 29 people arrested after an eight-month investigation into drug and gun sales, gang retaliation, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering and dogfighting. “The dogfighting part of the enterprise worked in cooperation with out-of-state breeding facilities that focused on training dogs to kill and engaged in interstate dogfighting events. In one instance, Reed lost $5,000 on one of his own dogs in a dogfight held in Philadelphia. In another instance, Reed bragged about maintaining his fighting dogs by feeding them chickens and rabbits, remarking how much the dogs loved killing the animals,” TAPinto Belmar and Lake Como reported.

• • October 2020 – Mobile, Alabama: Dogfighters David Black, 26, Gregory Mims, 42, and Selwin Carson, 57, were arrested after police spotted a dog crate in an SUV on the way to investigate a report of dogfighting. They pulled the vehicle over and saw the dog’s face was injured. “The driver and the passenger were taken into custody. While officers were working on the report another male subject approached the scene and was taken into custody,” KCTV5 reported.

• • October 2020 – Buffalo, New York: Dogfighter Douglas Williams was busted after a month-long investigation that started because people provided tips to the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and the SPCA, the Buffalo News reported. Police pulled him over with two pit bulls in his vehicle. “The sheriff’s SWAT team later executed a search warrant at his residence where they found three dogs in a backyard area that all appeared to have been involved in dog fighting.” Despite the fact Williams was on parole for home invasion when he was arrested for dogfighting, the judge allowed him out on bond. Williams never showed up for his court date, so Crime Stoppers offered a $2,500 reward for information pertaining to his whereabouts. U.S. Marshals caught him in Georgia in October 2021.

• • September 2020 – Cleveland, Ohio: “Cleveland police seized nine dogs from a home in the city’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood as part of a suspected dogfighting investigation,” cleveland.com reported. Although “[i]nvestigators found the dogs had old injuries and new injuries, and they determined almost all had been involved in some kind of fighting in the 24 hours before the raid,” no charges were filed, Fox 8 reported.

• • September 2020 – Macon, Georgia: Dogfighter Shadaar Williams, 25, was charged with six counts of dogfighting and six counts of animal cruelty after someone reported that he was fighting dogs on Kingsview Circle. Police rescued six dogs.

• • August 2020 – Detroit, Michigan: Thanks to a tipster, police rescued nine pit bulls and confiscated dogfighting equipment from a Seyburn Street home, The Detroit News reported.

• • June 2020 – Kalamazoo, Michigan: Dogfighters Javon Clark and Raymond Drain were both charged with two counts of animal fighting and one count of animal cruelty and Deonte Daniels and Robert Daniels were both charged with one count of improper dog tether after a May 2020 complaint about barking on East Frank Street turned up 10 pit bulls, roosters, and hens living in “deplorable conditions” along with dogfighting equipment, according to WKZO. Over the next five weeks, the investigation led to two other homes.

• • May 2020 – Marietta, Georgia: Dogfighter Ronald McCarthy, 43, was arrested after a police officer noticed a pit bull with “fresh wounds on its face, mouth and ears” on Austin Avenue. The officer took the dog, named Kilo, to the address on the dog’s collar and “noticed several crates in the back yard that were visible from the road, as well as empty rifle boxes near the front door,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Five more dogs were inside the house, but neither of the two men at the address claimed to own them. A search warrant revealed “methamphetamine, LSD, MDMA, the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam and three airsoft rifles” as well as a 9 mm rifle and an AR-15. McCarthy had been released from a Louisiana prison earlier in 2020.

• • April 2020 – Frankfort, Kentucky: David Allen Jackson, 45, was charged with 38 counts of animal cruelty after a drug investigation led police to 38 pit bulls, many of which had mange or heartworms. None of them had access to food or clean water. Uncaged dogs were tethered to heavy objects, and one was tethered with a 42-pound chain. Police also found treadmills, the State Journal reported.

• • March 2020 – Cleveland, Tennessee: Matthew Garman posted a video of his pit bull killing a Siberian husky online with the caption “He did good.” In June, he was sentenced to six years in prison for violating probation.

• • March 2020 – Flint, Michigan: Dogfighter Marquel Holmes was “charged with two 40-year felonies and two 60-year felonies” for drug possession and “six felony counts related to dog fighting, possession of dog fighting equipment, and abandoning or cruelty to animals” after July 19, 2019, and January 13, 2020, raids turned up a total of 761 grams of powder cocaine, 48.5 grams of crack cocaine, 17 grams of fentanyl, a digital scale, cash, injured pit bulls, including one with fresh wounds on its face, and dogfighting equipment such weighted collars and chains, a treadmill, “and numerous dog medications and other evidence known to be related to illegal dog fighting,” WNEM reported.

• • February 2020 – Detroit, Michigan: A dogfighter on Abington Avenue was arrested and 21 dogs were rescued thanks to tipsters, clickondetroit.com reported.

• • February 2020 – Franklin, New York: Another tip led police to arrest dogfighter Nasir Azmat, who was charged with “20 counts of possessing dogs under circumstances evincing an intent that such animals engage in animal fighting, [o]ne count of owning or possessing animal fighting paraphernalia with the intent to engage in or otherwise promote or facilitate animal fighting, [and] 20 counts of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals – failure to provide proper sustenance,” according to WKTV. Police rescued 20 dogs from the property.

• • February 2020 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Dogfighter Casper Ingram, 45, was arrested after someone reported 10 to 15 dogs chained up on Ingram’s property. Ingram was charged with “19 counts of cruelty to animals, one count of keeping a place, equipment or facility for training dogs for dogfighting and one count of owning possessing, keeping or training dogs for fighting” after police obtained a search warrant and found 24 dogs, spring poles, bait poles, and “medication, vitamins and other supplements used for dogfighting,” news9.com reported. One dog, used for breeding, had her teeth removed. None of the dogs had shelter or access to food and water.

• • January 2020 – Columbia, South Carolina: A 35-year-old woman named Chasity Hammonds was charged with animal fighting and baiting after someone in her community reported that she had a “suspicious number of dogs” in her backyard, The State reported. South Carolina law defines fighting as “an attack with violence by an animal against another animal or a human” and baiting as provoking or harassing “an animal with one or more animals with the purpose of training an animal for, or to cause an animal to engage in, fights with or among other animals or between animals and humans.” Police took six malnourished and injured dogs, including one with bite marks and “other signs of fighting” that weren’t being treated.

• • January 2020 – Hickory Grove, South Carolina: Dogfighter Ronald Edward Faulkenberry was charged with “animal fighting, eight counts of ill treatment of animals, 11 counts of violation of county restraint ordinance, eight counts of inadequate water, six counts of violation of York County spay ordinance, 12 counts of violation of the shelter ordinance, and 12 counts of violation of the rabies ordinance” after one of his 14 pit bulls attacked a 71-year-old relative who was watching the dogs for him, WSPA reported. In addition to all the dogs, police found a fighting pit and breaksticks at the Sawmill Road home, WSOC-TV said.

• • January 2020 – Cleveland, Ohio: Angelo McCoy, 48, and Nylajennel Mobley, 29, were arrested during a drug raid in which “[o]fficers seized 112 grams of heroin, 21 grams of cocaine, more than 400 prescription pills, [and] $8,591 cash from inside the home,” according to cleveland.com. Investigators also “found a dead dog that appeared emaciated … 11 other injured dogs in cages without adequate food or water, with no shelter and in filthy conditions and ‘dog-fighting equipment,’ according to court records.”

• • December 2019 – Monroeville [and West Mifflin], Pennsylvania: Dogfighter Davon Carter Williams was arrested after police searched his phone during a drug investigation and discovered videos of dogfights that had taken place in Williams’ basement in January. His 28 dogfighting charges include: “six counts of animal fighting, two counts of owning or [possessing] or selling an animal for animal fighting, three counts of encouraging and aiding in animal fighting, three counts of paying admission to attend animal fighting, 12 counts of cruelty to animals, a charge of knowingly permitting animal fighting and one charge of having animal fighting paraphernalia,” triblive.com reported. Williams’ sister, a 21-year-old woman named Ricki Knight of West Mifflin, was charged with eight counts of animal fighting and eight counts of cruelty to animals.

• • December 2019 – Donaldsonville, Louisiana: Four people were arrested and three people were sought by police after someone reported a dogfight that turned up 10 dogs total, two dogs that were fighting, and “a quantity of drugs, guns, money, dog fighting paraphernalia, and drug paraphernalia.” Dogfighters who were arrested:

 

 

Donaldson, Louisiana, dogfighters who fled:

 

 

• • December 2019 – Manhattan, New York: “Evans Fuentes, Edward Johnson, and Benito Gittens abused dozens of dogs between September 2018 and October 2019, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office,” the New York Post reported.

 

• • November 2019 – Mesa, Arizona: William Winfield, 47, and Heidi Perpich, 41, were arrested for dogfighting after police found three chained and malnourished dogs whose water “was covered with algae,” a portable fighting arena, blood-stained carpet and towels, weighted collars and harnesses, and dogfighting literature.

• • November 2019 – Toledo, Ohio: As the result of a joint investigation with the USDA Office of the Inspector General, Toledo police raided several homes and rescued dogs but didn’t arrest anyone. “Toledo police said they will share more information on the raids and what they found when it is appropriate,” WTOL reported.

• • October 2019 – New Bern, North Carolina: Dogfighters Saman Reaves, Aaron Dejon Inman Jr. and Anthony Mackmore (from Monck’s Corner) were discovered due to a 911 call about men arguing at 920 West Street, kinston.com reported. All three were charged with felony dogfighting and baiting, felony trafficking of heroin, felony possession of methamphetamine and MDMA and possession of a stolen firearm, according to WNCT.

• • September 2019 – Louisville, Kentucky: Dogfighter William Washburn, 46, was arrested after a months-long investigation that began because Washburn had been posting pictures and videos of dogs he was training. “One of the pictures, posted on Aug. 29, showed a dog on a treadmill accompanied by the caption, ‘1xw,'” WDRB reported. “Police say the caption indicated that the dog was a ‘one time winner’ of a dogfight. Another dog posted “had ‘won in 42,'” meaning the dog had won the fight in 42 minutes. When police searched his Peaslee Road home, they found dogfighting paraphernalia and a scarred-up pitbull on a 2-foot chain, according to WDRB.

• • August 2019 – Magnolia, Arkansas: Dogfighter Eddie Dean McBride, 46, was arrested after a joint investigation by Magnolia Police Department, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, 13th Judicial District Drug Task Force, and the U.S. Marshals Service who rescued four injured pit bulls from McBride’s Columbia Road property. They also took a rifle and items McBride used to train the dogs, including weighted collars and chains, two treadmills, a digital scale, horse steroids, and syringes.

• • July 2019 – Macon, Georgia: Dogfighter Jonriquez Grayer, 22, found “a pistol, Ruger rifle, marijuana, a ‘large amount of money,’ and evidence of dog fighting,” while executing a search warrant, Fox 28 Savannah reported. Animal control rescued seven dogs from Grayer, who was charged with “possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, possessing a firearm while committing a felony, and seven counts of prohibited dog fighting and related conduct.”

• • June 2019 – Batesville, Arkansas: An arrest warrant was issued for Andrew Ford, 29, after police found 20 pit bulls, 16 of which were chained with heavy chains, three pieces of animal hide, a ledger book that documented his dogs’ training, a catmill equipped with a dog chain on one end and another chain that had an animal hide attached to it, two treadmills, and pieces of plywood fitted with bolts “consistent with use for putting a dog fighting ring together,” KAIT8 reported.

• • June 2019 – Cumberland, Maryland: Dogfighters Blair and Deborah Carter, who lived on Shriver Avenue, were arrested after police “found eight emaciated pit bull dogs at an abandoned residence on M.V. Smith Road,” Cumberland Times-News reported. “As part of the investigation, a search warrant was served at a Cumberland residence where deputies located further evidence of dogfighting. Police also recovered a handgun and suspected drugs. An additional pit bull was removed from that residence. The couple were charged with numerous charges relating to the dogfighting operation, including providing premises for dogfighting and animal cruelty. Blair Carter also faces charges of firearm possession with a felony conviction and drug possession. Deborah Carter also was charged with drug possession.”

• • May 2019 – Fresno, California: Dogfighter Avery McLemore was arrested after a woman driving past “an old factory near Weber and Belmont” caught McLemore siccing one dog on another dog in April and recorded him, KMJ NOW reported. “The dog that was being attacked, the smaller dog you could tell that it was so exhausted from being bitten. It would pull away and the guy kept pulling the dog’s leash forward to him,” she said. Police took his dogs.

• • May 2019 – Camby, Indiana: A Crime Stoppers tip prompted police to search two properties Martin Anderson owned. They wound up rescuing 10 pit bulls and 550 roosters. Anderson had been arrested for attending a Monroe, Michigan, dogfight in 2011.

• • April 2019 – Columbus, Ohio: German Sanchez was arrested after police found 20 dogs “suffering from dehydration, illness and open wounds,” according to the Columbus Dispatch. In October 2020, he was “sentenced to four years in prison for running a dogfighting operation and trafficking in drugs at the house in the 700 block of Dexter Avenue.”

• • April 2019 – Severn, Maryland: Dogfighter Kyle Murray, 26, was arrested after police received a tip that Murray was training dogs to fight and uploading videos to social media. In one video, a pit bull was attacking a small, white, mixed-breed puppy, KMOV reported. “Other videos showed the pit bull being ‘trained’ in ways indicative of methods used for dog fighting.” A detective messaged Murray, seeking to set up a fight. April 9, Murray was arrested and the pit bull were seized, but the bait dog [white puppy] was nowhere to be found.

• • April 2019 – Tupelo and Horn Lake, Mississippi: Dogfighters Cesaus Williams and Danny McCoy, respectively, were arrested in connection with the dogfight Jamie Holmes was arrested for in March.

• • March 2019 – Portsmouth, Virginia: Leonard Madison was arrested and 33 dogs were removed from Madison’s Bold Street home. Police also seized “a dog treadmill associated with dogfighting [and] chains, an artificial insemination kit for animals and a digital scale,” WTVR reported.

• • March 2019 – Batesville, Mississippi: Dogfighters Ladon Douglas, 43, and Kendrix Hardin, 44, were arrested and Scottie Draper is missing after police busted a dogfight with 30 onlookers “in a wooded area, hidden by trees” on Draper’s property, Action News 5 reported. Police rescued five dogs, but one died.

• • March 2019 – Tupelo, Mississippi: Dogfighter Jamie Holmes, 30, was arrested after police busted a Saturday night dogfight that caused the death of a dog named Rainbow. Police confiscated the dogfighters’ wood-frame dogfighting ring as evidence, WTVA reported.

• • February 2019 – LaGrange, Georgia: Demetris Deshan Kennedy, 32, was arrested for dogfighting during a drug investigation. Police “found three firearms, body armor, ammunition, and approximately 11 ounces of marijuana inside the home,” according to 11alive.com. “In the backyard, five pit bull-type dogs, each chained to the ground with logging chains were found. In a shed in the backyard, investigators recovered dog fighting training paraphernalia, including a homemade treadmill and spring pole.”

• • February 2019 – Covington, Georgia: Dogfighters Darrell Barber and Richard Cobb were arrested after a 1:45 p.m. tip led animal control officers to the woods behind an Allen Drive house. “Several dogs were fighting and three males were standing around them, each holding a pitbull on a leash,” Covington police spokesman Justin Stott said in a press release, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “One male took off running with a pitbull as soon as officers approached and announced (they were police).” Their bait dog “was still alive but moving slowly and had blood coming from its head and had bite marks on its back,” Stott said. 

• • February 2019 – Pueblo, Colorado: Dogfighters Jerry Grady and Armando Vigil were arrested with three other people after a year-long investigation that began because “community members called [Animal Law Enforcement] to report a large number of animals on the property” on East Beech Street, news station KOAA reported. Police ultimately”found evidence of dog fighting along with 19 dogs on the property chained without access to water, severely injured, and scarred because of recent abuse.” Three dogs were euthanized for aggressive behavior; 13 were transferred to various shelters; and three were returned to their owners “who were unaware of what took place on the property.” Grady was sentenced to six months in prison and six years of probation; Vigil disappeared before his court date.

• • December 2018 – Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Kevin Valentine “was arrested on 19 counts of dog fighting” after police found over a dozen pit bulls, 19 of which were later euthanized, and a treadmill, according to WBRZ. The repeat offender had been arrested twice for dogfighting in the early 2000s.

• • November 2018 – Sherwood, Oregon: Dogfighter Russell Fernandez, 54, was arrested after a tip led police to the 19000 block of SW Pacific Highway, where they found dogfighting equipment and four dogs with “no access to water and very little food,” KOIN reported.

• • September 2018 – Gilman Township, Wisconsin: Houa Dia Yang and Senyen Vang were arrested on dogfighting charges after police found 20 scarred and injured pit bulls and about 1,500 hens and roosters, according to NPR. They also found marijuana plants and four pounds of meth.

• • August 2018 – Bendena, Kansas: Colton Albright “was charged with 10 counts of dogfighting, three counts of possession of dogfighting paraphernalia and one count of animal cruelty after 45 dogs were removed from his home,” according to News-Press Now. The judge sentenced him to “65 months for his misdemeanor charge, and six months each on the dogfighting charges. The seven charges will be served concurrently, allowing Albright to serve a minimum of 55.25 months if he were to receive time off with good behavior.”

• • July 2018 – Liberty, North Carolina: Seven dogfighters were busted when police executed a search warrant and stumbled upon a dogfight in progress. Police found two pit bulls, “numerous dog fighting materials (sodium chloride, syringes, cotton swabs, burn relief spray and medications), a small amount of marijuana and $2,537,” WFMY News reported. Ronald Vaughn was sentenced to 7-18 months in the N.C. Department of Adult Corrections; General Williams III was sentenced to a 15-27 month suspended sentence, 30 months of supervised probation and a two-week “active/split sentence in the Randolph County Jail,” according to the Courier-Tribune; Michael Williams was sentenced to an 11-23 month suspended sentence, 24 months of supervised probation and 28 days in the Randolph County Jail; James Hunter was sentenced to an 8-19 month suspended sentence, 18 months of supervised probation and 48 hours of community service work; Tavon Lanier’s was not reported; Elbert McMillian was sentenced to an 8-19 month suspended sentence and 36 months of supervised probation; and Robert Charles was sentenced to an 8-19 month suspended sentence and 24 months of supervised probation.

• • June 2018 – Flint, Michigan: Former gang member and dogfighter Bruce Cayton, 32, was arrested after attempting to retrieve his 11 pit bulls from animal control, WNEM reported. An anonymous tip led police to discover the dogs at two abandoned houses that didn’t have electricity. “The dogs chained inside had not been fed or given water in several days and were being transported in the trunks of cars to various locations,” WNEM said. Investigators also found “syringes, needles, suspected drugs and drug paraphernalia as well as a medication associated with dog-fighting.”

• • April 2018 – Wichita, Kansas: Dogfighter Jeric West was busted after an anonymous tip led police to find: three injured and underweight dogs suspected of being bait dogs, two scarred pit bulls tethered to car axles via heavy chains, a break stick, which dogfighters use to pry open a pit bull’s jaws, antibiotics and dog supplements, duct tape, which dogfighters use to tape bait animals’ mouths closed so they can’t fight back, two guns, and $2,800. Sedgwick County District Judge Tyler Roush, who needs to be disbarred, sentenced West to a year in prison, suspended that sentence in favor of a year of probation, and forbade West from owning any kind of animal during that year-long probation.

• • April 2018 – Rougemont, North Carolina: Dogfighter Daniel Isiah Crew Jr., 41, was charged with 40 counts of felony dog fighting after police removed 30 dogs from Crew’s home. Police also found treadmills, records, and evidence of a dogfighting pit, ABC 11 reported. “Some of the dogs had injuries where their ears had been cut, they were missing some teeth. Some of them had been missing some toes. They had puncture wounds throughout their neck, through their body,” Orange County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Dawn Hunter told reporters.

• • March 2018 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fourteen dogfighters were arrested after PSPCA officers and police raided a dogfight in a South 35th Street building off Grays Ferry Avenue on a Saturday night. They rescued four pit bulls and took “drugs, two guns, a large amount of cash, and a blood-soaked wooden fighting ring from the space,” Phillymag reported.

• • March 2018 – Eastman, Georgia: Dogfighters Xavier Simmons, Benjamin Shinhoster, Dwight McDuffie, James Lampkin, Deveon Hood, Joe Ford and Andre Archer were arrested after police received a tip about a 9 p.m. dogfight and encountered a dog “covered in blood” during an 11 p.m. traffic stop, WGXA reported. After the driver admitted to being at a dogfight on Rozar Goolsby Road, police raided the house and found “55 pit bulls staked to the ground by heavy chains” as well as antibiotics, syringes and “a treadmill with a rope attached to the front.” They also found “seven pit bulls in four grave areas.”

• • February 2018 – Coatesville, Pennsylvania: Dogfighter Dowayne Molina “was charged with two counts of possession with intent to deliver, three counts of related dog fighting/training and animal cruelty, one count of a felon not to possess a firearm and one count of drug paraphernalia” after state troopers stopped him for a traffic violation, saw an injured dog in the vehicle, and later took six pit bulls, four rabbits, “a .40-caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol, several dog treadmills, IV kits for the pit bulls and various other dog medical supplies used to treat fighting injuries, and dog fighting paraphernalia” from Molina’s home.

• • November 2017 – Lansing, Michigan: Dogfighters Clement Waddy, 42, Kian Miller, 40, and Charles Miller, 33, were arrested after a months-long investigation turned up “a treadmill designed specifically for dogs, weighted collars, strength supplements and handwritten notes for feeding and exercise regimens,” the Lansing State Journal reported. “Charles Miller’s cell phone stored ‘extensive videos of dogfights … as well as conversations with dogfighters about fighting dogs, training dogs for fights, and medical care for dogs after fights.'”

• • November 2017 – Toledo, Ohio: Dogfighter Todd Sturdivant was charged with training a dog for dogfighting on the 15th, according to mugshots.com.

• • November 2017 – Dinwiddie, Virginia: Dogfighter Eldridge Freeman Jr., 44, was charged after police found 26 “heavily chained” dogs, many of which “were covered in scars on their heads, chests and front legs,” a dogfighting pit with a blood-stained tarp covering it, and dogfighting paraphernalia,” ABC 8 reported. In February 2019, Freeman was sentenced to 108 years in prison but will only serve 10. “Freeman insisted during his trial that he loves his dogs and that he trained them to compete in legitimate pitbull competitions,” ABC 8 said.

• • November 2017 – Hartsville, South Carolina: Dogfighter Edward Lamont Robinson, 36, was “charged with three counts of ill treatment of animals, presence at animal fighting or baiting, possession of a weapon by a certain person, and possession of marijuana” after tips to Animal Control were relayed to police who investigated Robinson because, after seeing photos of the dogs, they “did not want to wait to see if the dogs were being fought, or not,” WMBF News reported. Animal Control had also recently picked up three apparent bait dogs near Robinson’s house.

• • October 2017 – Loranger, Louisiana: Dogfighter Clay Turner, 61, was arrested after “agents from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals Service and other agencies” removed 33 dogs, many of which were injured, and dogfighting “paraphernalia” from Turner’s property, the United States Department of Justice said in a statement. “On telephone calls obtained via court-authorized wiretaps, Turner and others discussed gambling on dog fights, arranging and participating in dog fights, sponsoring and exhibiting dogs in dog fights, training and housing dogs for the purposes of dog fighting, commerce in and transport of fighting dogs and the promotion of dog fights. Turner also stated he would give the dogs ‘dex,’ referring to Dexamethasone — a substance that causes bowel evacuation — to achieve proper weight for the dog fights.”

• • October 2017 – Kinston, North Carolina: Dogfighter Hal Tyler Jr. was arrested around 11 p.m. on a Saturday after people reported a dogfight at a home on Sherman Street. Police found two dogs, including a pit bull puppy whose face and neck required 48 staples, and a wooden dogfighting ring. People watching the fight fled when they arrived. Police arrested Juan Derico Rufus and charged him with felony dogfighting the following Tuesday.

 

 

• • September 2017 – Nicholson Township, Pennsylvania: Edward Harris, 59, Melisha Renee Robinson, 38, Regis Leonard Grooms, 34, were each “charged with 23 felony counts of cruelty to animals; 23 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals; and 23 summary counts of cruelty to animals” after “dumb luck” led police looking for stolen ATVs to “a fresh set of muddy ATV tracks, leading up a driveway to 251 Church St.,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. There, police found 29 pit bulls, including three dead dogs and two puppies, found in a plastic container, that later died. Harris raised, bred, and trained the dogs, and Robinson and Grooms helped train and fight the dogs, fed them, destroyed remains, and shipped the dogs. “(As a prisoner,) [Harris’] phone calls are recorded and he has spoken in great detail encoded about his dog fighting enterprise,” the Post-Gazette said.

• • September 2017 – Eagle Springs, North Carolina: Dogfighter Brexton Lloyd, 54, was arrested during an investigation called Operation Grand Champion. During a March 2017 raid of Lloyd’s property, police seized 13 pitbulls, a spring pole, a dog harness, a scale, and veterinary supplies, such as IV fluids, antibiotics, syringes, blood-clotting medications and a skin stapler.

• • August 2017 – Alexandria, Virginia: Dogfighter Rodriguez Rodney Lomax Norman, 31, “bred, trained, and exhibited dogs in organized fights,” according to the United States Department of Justice. Police “found over a dozen dogs, an animal treadmill, heavy dog chains, shock collars, lunge whips, performance-enhancing animal pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies like syringes and skin staplers.” Rodriguez and 11 other people also “purchased thousands of stolen credit and debit card numbers, encoded those numbers onto fraudulent credit cards, and used those cards to buy merchandise including gift cards and cartons of cigarettes,” so he was sentenced to 108 months in prison for that and 12 months for dogfighting.

• • August 2017 – Aragon, Georgia: Dogfighter Devecio Ranard Rowland, 32, was arrested after police found 107 dogs “tethered to trees or chained to axles driven into the ground” with 30-pound chains around their neck, Georgia Public Broadcasting reported. They also found steroids and other growth supplements, a dog fighting training video, and a rape bracket used to strap a female in for breeding. Rowland’s property was reportedly under investigation since a February 2010 tip led police to suspect animal cruelty. In May 2018, Rowland was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 35 years of probation but could have gotten 642 years in prison.

• • August 2017 – Erie, Pennsylvania: Dogfighter and MMA fighter Danny Swift, 42, was arrested and 14 pit bulls were removed from 1047 West 28th Street “after an Erie police officer saw two dogs fighting outside the house on Aug. 1,” goerie.com reported. One dog later died. Swift was “sentenced to serve 10 to 20 months in county prison followed by seven years of probation” and can never own another dog, Erie News Now said.

• • August 2017 – Louisville, Kentucky: Dogfighter Larry Ferguson, 41, was arrested after a tip led police to search a home near the intersection of South 23rd Street and West Gaulbert Avenue, WDRB reported. There, they found three dogs. One had recently given birth to puppies; another was loose; and the third was in the garage, which “had at least an inch of standing water in it,” the police stated. “The dog house in the garage was full of muddy hay and water.” The female dog in the garage was missing her ears “as if they had been chewed off.” None of the dogs had fresh water to drink. Police also found cocaine.

• • May 2017 – Natchez, Mississippi: Dogfighter Charoyd Bell was arrested after a tip led police to a home where police heard yelping coming from a local bayou. When they arrived, they spotted Bell and another guy, Damien Green. “[O]ne was sitting and one was holding the pit bull ready to allow the dog to launch, and the other one tied to the tree. The young man holding the pit bull was Bell,” Sheriff Travis Patten told WLBT. Fourteen pit bulls and a hound dog were rescued from the Lasalle Street home. Bell had a history of animal abuse and dognapping.

• • March 2017 – Toledo, Ohio: Dogfighter Jerry Buchanan, 47, was arrested after police found dogs with “scars consistent with dogfighting … [c]anine medication, books about dogfighting, penicillin, dog treadmills, dog food, and dog weights” along with cocaine, over $3,000 in cash, scales, baggies, and a rifle, according to the Toledo Blade. Within a week of his arrest, Toledo’s humane society offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person who threw a dog and garbage out of a truck. The dog’s “ears, throat, chest, and front legs are riddled with gaping, infected bite wounds,” the Toledo Blade reported. “Stephen Heaven, president and CEO of the organization, said the severity of the injuries and their concentration on the front of his body indicate Otis was purposely fought by someone as opposed to having gotten in a general scuffle with another dog.”

• • March 2017 – Bushnell, Florida: An anonymous tip led police to discover Patrick Riley was “breeding, prepping and training dogs to fight,” WFTV reported. Riley admitted to hosting one dogfight on his property, but “evidence suggests that he has been involved with dogfighting since 1975.” Police rescued eight pit bulls and took dogfighting equipment and “documentation detailing involvement, attendance and hosting of dogfighting events,” WFTV said. Police also seized crystal meth, Ecstacy, marijuana, pills, and antibiotics.

• • January 2017 – Texarkana, Arkansas: Dogfighters Christopher Tremayne Harper and Jaquavian Jaqwon Johnson were arrested after police initially gave them the benefit of the doubt that they weren’t fighting dogs. Harper told police his pit bull’s ears had been cut down nearly to the head when he bought the dog and promised he’d take the dog to a vet. “Less than an hour later,” Texarkana Gazette reported, police received another report of dogfighting in the same area. “Officers made contact a second time with Jaquavian Johnson and noted that his white pit bull had puncture wounds and other injuries consistent with dog fighting,” TXK Today said. Johnson was sentenced to five years of probation but after failing to comply with the terms of that probation and committing another crime, he was sentenced to five years in prison.

• • January 2017 – Rock Island, Illinois: According to the Department of Justice, Jaquan Leontae Jones, 27, was charged with knowingly attending a dogfight, and the following nine men, one of whom hailed from Iowa, were charged with “conspiracy to sponsor and participate in a dog-fighting venture and related charge” between 2011 and 2016:  

• • December 2016 – North Carolina: Dogfighters Leo Chadwick (from Hubert), 64, Aaron Richardson (from Jacksonville), 42, Cedric Cook (from Fayetteville), 39, James Martin (from Maple Hill), 39, James Golden III (from Ayden), 47, William Farrior (from Maple Hill), Lewis Edmond Andrews Jr. (from Maple Hill), 41, Ronnie Thompson (from Jacksonville), 39, and Mark Anthony West (from Jacksonville), 52, were arrested after an investigation that began in October 2015. “The investigation revealed that Chadwick had been involved in raising and training dogs for the past 35 years,” an FBI press release stated. “During the search of [Richardson’s] property, investigators located several ‘training chains’ that weighed as much as 70 lbs.” A 34-pound dog on Chadwick’s property was tethered with a 34-pound chain. A total of 156 dogs were rescued. Chadwick was sentenced to five years in prison; Richardson was sentenced to 96 months in prison; Farrior was sentenced to 48 months in prison; Cook was sentenced to 45 months in prison; and Martin and Golden got slaps on the wrist with four years of probation and six months of house arrest (Martin) and 100 hours of community service (Golden).

• • December 2016 – Fayetteville, North Carolina: While police investigated property on Bluebird Lane, “Leedell Watkins told a deputy had a five dogs there and wanted to get them out,” CBS17 reported. “We started [talking] to him about his five dogs and that led us to look into him a little more,” Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Sean Swain said. A search warrant revealed text messages about dogfighting. Watkins had also recorded and taken pictures of dogfights. He was charged with 33 felonies — specifically 20 counts of felony dog fighting, 12 counts of felony animal cruelty, and felony conspiracy.

• • July 2017 – Battle Creek, Michigan: Dogfighter Javaan James was arrested after police raided James’ home for drugs and “found five pit bull terriers in the backyard and several items they said were used to train dogs for fighting,” the Battle Creek Enquirer reported. James, who was charged with animal cruelty and neglect in 2014 and 2015, respectively, was sentenced to two to eight years in prison.

• • June 2016 – Albuquerque, New Mexico: Dogfighter Robert Arellano was charged with “13 counts of violating the animal fighting prohibitions of the federal Animal Welfare Act,” according to the Department of Justice. “Arellano had previously been arrested and indicted on additional charges in the District of New Jersey pertaining to his alleged involvement in a multi-state dog fighting network. Those charges alleged criminal acts related to transporting, delivering, buying, selling, and receiving pit bull-type dogs for dog fighting ventures and conspiring to commit these acts in New Jersey and elsewhere throughout the U.S.” In October 2018, Arellano was convicted in the New Jersey case thanks to evidence showing he’d shipped two dogs to New Jersey in 2014, KRQE reported. He was sentenced to four years in prison.

• • April 2016 – Columbus, Ohio: Dogfighter Charles Granberry sold pit bulls to an undercover detective twice in March 2016, according to Great Lakes Echo. “He was caught with numerous training tools, such as treadmills, cat mills and heavy chains, in his home as well as a blood-stained dogfighting pit, court documents show. Granberry was also found with veterinary supplies to treat the dogs to avoid getting caught.” In April 2017, Granberry was sentenced to 72 months in prison. Although “Granberry was a significant figure in the operation,” The Columbus Dispatch said, four other men — Henry Hill Jr., 20, Anthony McGuffie, 22, Randall Frye, 57, and Dwayne Robinson Jr., 32, — were also charged during raids that rescued 45 dogs.

• • March 2016 – Linda Vista, California: After a “months-long investigation,” police rescued nine dogs, some scarred; one pregnant. They also found “a treadmill, chains, tropheys, weights and belts, items consistent with dog training,” NBC San Diego reported. “The dogs were kept in the United States, but were [taken] to Mexico to fight in several different cities where they could win up to $80,000 in prize money,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Robert Hill said.

• • February 2016 – Delray Beach, Florida: Dogfighter Roy Bennett was arrested after police knocked on his door on Southwest 10th Avenue, following up on an anonymous tip. Bennett answered the door “with blood on his hands, tee shirt and socks,” the Sun-Sentinel reported. When asked why he was bloody, he said his dog was injured. In his backyard, police “found malnourished dogs in makeshift cages without food or water. Another dog found unchained was bleeding from its mouth with cuts all over its body.” They also found his dogfighting pit: bloody carpets “surrounded by plywood in a square shape in what appeared to be a dog fighting ring.” According to WPBF 25 News, Bennett had been arrested for dogfighting in 1995 as well.

• • December 2015 – Hawthorne, Florida: A noise complaint led police to arrest Ruth Renae Bryant, 44, around midnight Saturday, December 19, after encountering “a large group of people at what appeared to be an organized dog fight,” jacksonville.com reported. “Dozens of people fled leaving behind 39 vehicles, some registered as far away as Jonesboro, Ga., and Bradenton” and police found two injured dogs “in a wood-box arena designed for fighting” and 17 other dogs. The Sheriff’s Office considered Bryant to be “the primary facilitator of that initial fighting event” and said she owned the property.

• • November 2015 – Bartow, Florida: Dogfighter Hewitt Grant II, 48, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and 30 years of probation after his release after being found guilty of 84 counts of animal cruelty related to dog fighting. The strong sentence came as a result of being told he wasn’t allowed to own more animals eight years earlier, the Ledger reported. In 2007, Grant had been sentenced to 364 days in jail after being found guilty of 80 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. Those charges were dropped after an appeals court ruled deputies had illegally searched his property, but the admonition remained in effect.

• • November 2015 – Chicago, Illinois: Dogfighter Larue Jackson, 57, was arrested after a tip led police to South Throop Street. There, they found 13 dogs chained in the basement, blood on the basement floor, a dead dog in the backyard and “items indicative of dogfighting such as bite sticks, canine medications and fighting ledgers,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

• • October 2015 – Parkesburgh, Pennsylvania: Dowayne Molina, 37, and Teresa Campos, 33, were charged with animal cruelty after parole officers found dog-fighting equipment, five injured pit bulls, and seven puppies.

• • August 2015 – Natchitoches, Louisiana: Dogfighter Ronald Payne Jr. 44, was arrested and dogfighter Kerry Turman Kahey, 37, fled. Police rescued 13 dogs. “The dogs are reportedly friendly toward humans, but workers with animal control say they do attack other dogs,” KSLA reported.

 

• • July 2015 – Macon, Georgia: Sheryl Smith, 54, a Bibb County Sheriff’s Office corrections deputy, and her two sons, Bruce Davis, 36, and Felix Hughes Jr., 30, were arrested for dogfighting after police “responded to a call at the residence where Smith lived to assist Animal Welfare Officers in reference to some injured dogs,” WGXA reported. Police confiscated a rape stand, used to breed dogs, a treadmill and “medicines … along with supplies used to clean eight dogs before fighting at a house on Dalton Street.”

• • July 2015 – Detroit, Monroe and Jackson, Michigan: Dogfighters Pierre Livingston, 43, of Detroit, Marcus Bradford, 44, of Southfield, Brian Williams, 35, of Detroit, Sherita Jones, 35, of Detroit and Maurice Littles Jr., 24, of Detroit, were “each charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to sponsor and exhibit an animal fighting venture,” mlive reported. “Maurice Littles, 44, of Jackson, faces those same charges, plus a count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.”

• • June 2015 – Houston, Delaware: Dawan Nelson, 33, of Houston, was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for dogfighting, possessing over $1 million in cocaine with intent to distribute, and being a convicted felon illegally possessing guns. Sixty-two of Nelson’s 67 pit bulls had to be euthanized, according to Delaware Online.

• • June 2015 – Kearneysville, West Virginia: Steve Jennings was charged with 14 felony counts of dogfighting after “an undercover agent purchased a pit bull and allegedly said that the dog would be used for fighting,” Herald-Mail Media reported. Twenty-one pit bulls, including 14 scarred from dogfighting, were removed from the property, where investigators found “a fighting pit, cellphones, breeding stations, collars, weights, chains and documents were seized along with the dogs of varying ages and conditions.” Despite all the evidence, Jennings was only sentenced to three months in prison and three years of supervised probation, according to WDVM.

• • May 2015 – Freeport, New York: Dogfighters Anthony Reddick, 54, and Ava Marie Green, 22, were among 15 people arrested during a drug investigation.

• • April / May 2015 – Natchitoches, Louisiana: Dogfighters Ivory Hicks, 43, and Chase Alan Skinner, 27, were arrested and 23 dogs were rescued from the 1500 block of Eight Mile Loop, according to KSLA. Four of the dogs were puppies. Two bait dogs, including one whose lip was hanging off in a photo, were gone by the time police arrived.

 

• • March 2015 – Tampa, Florida: Dogfighters Darnell Devlin, 18, and Kenny Bell, 21, bought a mixed-breed dog with the intention of fighting her, but when she turned out to be a quitter, as dogfighters call dogs that refuse to fight, Devlin and Bell used her as a bait dog and then paid a pair of 17-year-olds to get rid of her. Surveillance video showed all four of them walking the dog to railroad tracks, where she was tied to the tracks and shot “multiple times,” according to USA Today. Police found two more injured dogs at Devlin and Bell’s home, where their mother vouched for them, saying they would never fight dogs. “There is no proof of dog fighting equipment in our house, around the house, or anything like that,” she said. “They don’t. We don’t dog fight. I don’t even let my two dogs. There was nothing like that happening. I would not allow that, not for a second.”

• • January 2015 – Smithfield, North Carolina: Dogfighter Kareleikeya Ankeria Leach, 21, was charged with felony dogfighting after four pit bulls were taken from her home. “One of the animals — a gray male pit bull — had untreated bite wounds to the face and a badly swollen head. The other — a black and white female pit bull — had a broken leg, bite wounds to the face and a badly swollen head,” ABC 11 reported. “None of the dogs had access to food or water.

• • December 2014 – Baltimore, Maryland: Fourteen dogfighters were arrested and 225 dogs were rescued after a year-long investigation led police to raid “15 city rowhouses and other properties, two Baltimore County locations and a compound in West Virginia,” the Baltimore Sun reported. They took “treadmills specially made for dogs, chains, harnesses, steroids, bloodstained dogfighting rings, plastic bite sticks to pry apart dogs’ jaws, scales and ‘rape stands.'” Many of the dogs were named after “Sons of Anarchy” characters.

• • December 2014 – Baker, Louisiana: Dogfighter Eugene Grayer, 49, was arrested after a neighbor reported “barking, whimpering and a lot of commotion” to police, WAFB reported. Another neighbor thought it was suspicious that Grayer had a lot of dogs but never saw anyone walking them. Police took 24 dogs, all of which were euthanized, as well as a treadmill and a raccoon Grayer used as bait. The raccoon was also euthanized.

• • November 2014 – Akron, Ohio: Police who raided a dogfight arrested 47 people from five states, according to cleveland.com and the Columbus Dispatch. “Most of those charged are from Akron, but five are from Cleveland, four are from Columbus and four are from Warren and one each are from Warrensville Heights, Canton, Bedford Heights and Elyria,” cleveland.com reported. “The ring also includes people from four other states, including two from Gary, Indiana, two from Gastonia, North Carolina, two from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and one each from Victorville, California, Hesperia, California and East Chicago, Indiana.”

• • June 2014 – Louisville, Kentucky: Dogfighters Edward Bryant, 31, and Robert Dickerson, 27, were arrested after neighbors reported gunshots at a house on Rowan Street. Police “found several pit bills with signs of dog fighting,” according to WAVE3 News. “One dog was bleeding from the neck. Further investigation found an empty room with blood on the floor.” Police also found used syringes and penicillin.

• • April 2014 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Thirteen people, including 24-year-old Thomas Zollicoffer and 31-year-old Travis Hazlett, were arrested during dogfighting raids. Zollicoffer hosted dogfights in his basement, where losers were hanged from beams “until they died from strangulation,” Fox6 Milwaukee reported. Police rescued 22 dogs and found one dead dog buried in Zollicoffer’s backyard. Zollicoffer was sentenced to “five years in prison to be followed by four years of extended supervision,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He was also banned from owning or training dogs for five years.

 

• • April 2014 – Nashville, Tennessee: Dogfighter Michael Davis and his neighbor, James Jones, were arrested during a cocaine and heroin investigation after police found 38 dogs, ranging from puppies to full-grown adults, who were chained to trees behind their houses on Pewitt Road. “Some of them were emaciated, scarred or marked with gaping, bloody wounds,” the Tennessean reported. Police also found used syringes that were likely “used to inject the dogs with steroids, treadmills, a breeding stand and an object hanging from a tree that could have been used to build the dogs’ leg and jaw muscles.” Later, they found “exercise logs, a jumper cable and $234,950 in cash that had been shrink wrapped and buried outside.”

• • March 2014 – Freeport, New York: Dogfighter Anthony Reddick, 53, was arrested after 13 pit bulls died in a garage fire and investigators found dogfighting equipment. Reddick “fled the scene when the fire broke out” but was caught the following day, NBC New York reported. 

• • March 2014 – Dorchester, Massachusetts: Dogfighter Javier Ruperto, 35, was arrested after police received a tip about dogfighting happening at Ruperto’s home. “The caller also said several injured dogs were living in the basement,” Boston.com reported. Animal control officers found seven dogs in cages, one chained to stairs leading down to the basement and two treadmills. Two dogs were chained outside at 10 p.m., when it was 16 degrees. Ruperto had been banned from owning dogs in 1997 and was sentenced to eight months in prison for animal cruelty and obstructing an investigation in 1998.

• • January 2014 – Slidell, Louisiana: Dogfighter Ramel Varrick Johnson was arrested after someone reported him for possible animal cruelty. When police arrived at 37314 Powell Road, they found 15 malnourished and injured pit bulls. Johnson was charged with “15 counts of dogfighting, training and possession of dogs for fighting,” Fox 8 reported. Although a jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to a 10 years “imprisonment at hard labor, [t]he trial court suspended the sentence and imposed five years of probation under the following special conditions: one year in parish jail, a fine of $1,000.00 and costs, restitution of $4,933.90 to animal services, and the prohibition of the possession or ownership of dogs during probation,” according to leagle.com.

• • January 2014 – West Hempstead, New York: Dogfighter Hector Hernandez, 26, was arrested after someone called in a tip to the District Attorney’s office’s Animal Crimes Tipline. Investigators and animal control officers found eight injured, emaciated and neglected pit bulls, chickens and a rabbit [bait animals] in a shed at 69 Pinebrook Avenue. “Two of the dogs, Roja and Nana, had fresh bite marks on their front sides. Both dogs were also found to be sickly, underweight with bones visible, with overgrown nails and open wounds,” the DA’s office said. Hernandez also had “heavy restraint chains, a treadmill that had been modified with a wooden frame and dog tether … [v]itamins and supplements and a training stick with a stuffed animal attachment.”

• • November 2013 – Minneapolis, Minnesota: Leroy Longs Jr., owner of a three-time champion, was charged with “organizing a dog fighting ring and breeding dogs for that purpose in at least eight locations,” according to CBS Minnesota. Police rescued 18 pit bulls, including five puppies and a pregnant female. They also confiscated a 240-page book on how to become a successful dogfighter.

• • August 2013 – Auburn, Alabama: Dogfighter Donnie Anderson was charged in a multi-state bust spanning Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, according to ABC News. Ten people were arrested and 367 pit bulls were rescued after a three-year investigation by the FBI, who also seized drugs, guns, and $500,000.

• • August 2013 – Fairburn, Georgia: Dogfighter Joseph Bates, Jr., 41, was arrested during a traffic stop in Gautier, Mississippi, when police found nine injured pitbulls in kennels in the back of his SUV. Police also found “dog-fighting paraphernalia like chest weights used to train the dogs,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

• • April 2013 – Terrell, Texas: Dogfighters Brian Martin and Antwian Thomas were arrested after someone reported a dogfight on West Newton Street around 4 p.m., NBCDFW reported. The SPCA rescued 10 dogs; another had to be euthanized. Three other men, Allen Hambrick, Phillip Sterling, and Varleshae Turner, “were each charged with one count of being a spectator at a dog fight.”

• • April 2013 – Toledo, Ohio: Dogfighter Carl Steward, 21, was arrested after a report of a suspicious person revealed a “vacant, boarded-up house” on South Fearing Boulevard was being used as “a three-story training ground and kennel,” the Toledo Blade reported.

• • April 2013 – Ashland, Mississippi: Over 50 people from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas were arrested, according to the Daily Journal.

• • April 2013 – Sacramento, California: Dogfighter James Leiva, 60, of Carmichael was arrested along with three other people. Police took four dogs, drugs, guns, video tapes of dogfights and “medical equipment used to give the dogs steroids, sew up scars, and inject the dogs with fluids after long fights,” KCRA reported. “Authorities said all four suspects have ties to those involved in a massive dogfight that was raided and led to 50 arrests. Two of the people in custody are suspected of having attended the dogfight in Mississippi, before evading authorities by returning to California.”

• • December 2012 – West Brandywine Township, Pennsylvania: Dogfighters Shane Santiago and Laura Acampora were arrested after dead pit bulls around Chester County and a drug investigation led police to discover “blood-caked walls and carpets, a noose that had been used to hang a dog that had bitten one of the children, and electrical wires used to execute losing dogs,” Philadelphia’s CBS affiliate reported. Police also “rescued six dogs, ranging from a young puppy to a severely disfigured adult pit bull” and found “a dead pit bull puppy in a trashcan outside, double-wrapped in plastic bags,” according to the Times of Chester County. Their five children were placed with other family members. Santiago, 34, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half to 15 years in prison; Acampora, 34, was sentenced to 11.5 to 23 months in prison to be followed by 10 years of probation.

 

• • December 2012 – Dolton, Illinois: Reginald Bailey, 26 (from Dolton), Rolando Davidson, 43 (from Harvey), Arnulfo Salgado-Sanchez, 35 (from Harvey), Michael Dubose, 56 (from Country Club Hills), Shaquille Middleton, 18 (from Country Club Hills), Anthony Fugate, 27 (from Beecher), Donald Hudgins, 45 (from Chicago) and Willie McCray, 26 (from Calumet City), were arrested after a tipster led police to an industrial park on 142nd Street. “Two people were immediately arrested and six others were cuffed later when found hiding in the rafters of the building,” Chicago’s CBS affiliate reported. Police rescued 10 pit bulls.

• • October 2012 – Springfield, Georgia: Dogfighter Simone Lamar, 26, was arrested after a work crew discovered “a cooler with a decomposed dog inside of it behind [Lamar’s] mobile home,” the Effingham Herald reported. Police found four pit bulls behind the home and a search warrant revealed “a treadmill for dogs, restraint devices, padlocks, chains, cable cords used to wrap around the dogs’ necks, vitamins and other unknown solutions with syringes that were injected into the dogs.”

• • August 2012 – Louisville, Kentucky: Dogfighter Darryl Broadus, 53, was charged with three counts of animal cruelty in the first degree and three counts of animal cruelty in the second degree, and police seized five dogs and 15 puppies. “Police reports indicated one female dog had multiple open wounds, two of which went down to the muscle,” WLKY reported. “It also had scarring from previous injuries.”

• • July 2012 – Donaldsonville, Louisiana: A 24-year-old pregnant woman, Brittany Ward, and Joseph Duncan, 28, were charged with dogfighting and animal cruelty after police spotted “several dogs in the backyard with chains around their necks and no access to food or water,” WAFB reported. “Police said two of the dogs had scabs that appear to be from fighting. Another dog was found dead with bite marks and duct tape around its muzzle. Detectives said it is typical for a dog to be used as bait in a fighting ring.” Four pit bulls and a small dog were confiscated.

• • June 2012 – Antelope Valley, California: Kevin Thomas and 11 other men were arrested. Police rescued four pit bulls and confiscated a treadmil.

• • April 2012 – Dayton, Ohio: Dogfighter Michelle Orrender, 35, was arrested after police “found 18 dogs at the home, including 17 pit bulls, some of which had been injured or had their ears cut with scissors, according to a police report. Police found also a treadmill with pawprints on it, blood spatters on the walls, a parting stick, chewed tires, medications and syringes and an arena in the basement,” according to Dayton Daily News. Orrender was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

• • October 2011 – Blue Ash, Ohio: After a neighbor reported dogfighting to police, William Morton Stone Jr., 36, and Michael James Ellsworth, 22, were arrested and 13 pit bulls and a pit bull puppy were removed from the property. “A lot of the dogs had scars on their facial and neck area which would be consistent with dogs that get into a fight,” said Chief Chris Wallace.

• • May 2011 – Atmore, Alabama: Dogfighters Terrell McNeil, 29, and Terrence McNeil, 29, twin repeat offenders, were arrested during a traffic stop when police spotted an injured pit bull in the vehicle. “A search of the vehicle also turned up syringes filled with an unknown substance as well as other paraphernalia that is consistent with dog fighting and the treatment of dogs,” the Atmore Advance reported. Terrence had been arrested in June 2008 after a tip led police to investigate “a planned dogfight off North Sunset Drive in Atmore. While out on bond from the June arrest, McNeil was arrested a second time in September 2008 as the result of an undercover investigation in Autauga County near Prattville.” Terrell was arrested during that September 2008 investigation as well.

• • March 2011 – Monroe, Michigan: Twenty-four people from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Georgia were arrested for attending a dogfight.

• • December 2010 – Baltimore, Maryland: Dogfighters Aaron Mack, Jessica Deans, and Melvin Fuller were each charged with 42 counts of animal cruelty after police found six injured pit bulls, a treadmill, and heavy chains in their basement, according to Baltimore’s CBS station.

• • August 2010 – Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Dogfighters Martin W. Laluz, 39, and Daryl C. Klotz Jr., 20, were arrested after selling a pit bull and two puppies to undercover investigators “with the understanding that the dogs had been bred to fight,” The Roanoke Times reported.

 

• • March 2010 – Corvallis, Oregon: Dogfighters Cody Allan Hufeld, 32, and Victoria Louise McKenna, 29, were arrested after a marijuana investigation led police to find 15 scarred and injured pit bulls, three dead dogs, and dogfighting journals, or “underground newspapers” about dogfighting, and evidence of correspondence with “godfather of dogfighting” Ed Faron in North Carolina, who police rescued 127 dogs from, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reported. Hufeld was sentenced to 41 months in prison. McKenna, who the state accused of aiding and abetting, was ultimately sentenced to 15 months after credit for three months served, according to the Gazette-Times.

• • February, April and May 2009 – Gilman City, Missouri: Dogfighters Rick Hihath, Cris Bottcher, Jill Makstaller (from Perry, Iowa), Julio Reyes (from Tecumseh, Nebraska), Zachary Connelly (from Ogden, Iowa), Kevin Tasler (from Jefferson, Iowa) and Ryan Tasler (from Woodward, Iowa) participated in dogfights on Bottcher’s farm. Court records specify roles. For example, Hihath and Bottcher “constructed the fighting pit/box for the dog fights,” Hihath served as referee, and Ryan Tasler acted as spongeman during one fight. According to an FBI press release, Bottcher worked as a registered nurse for Harrison County Community Hospital in Bethany, Missouri. Hihath, a 56-year-old teacher for “a state school for the handicapped,” was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison. Bottcher, 49, killed dogs and was sentenced to the maximum possible punishment: 14 months in prison. He reportedly said he didn’t know why he did what he did, but he grew up killing livestock and didn’t believe animals had souls.

• • September 2008 – Prattville, Alabama: Dogfighters Terrance McNeil, Terrell McNeil, Shantay Robinson and Patrice Marshall were arrested. Police rescued 20 dogs and 7 puppies after an investigation involving the Autauga County Sheriff’s office, the Department of Agriculture, the District Attorney’s office and the Attorney General’s office, WSFA reported. Each person was charged with 27 counts [one count per dog] of permitting dogfighting.

• • June 2008 – Atmore, Alabama: Dogfighters Terrance McNeil and John Stallworth were arrested before a planned dogfight could even take place. A tip led police to N. Sunset Drive, where “they found a pit, portable generators for lighting and other dogfighting parpahanelia,” WSFA reported. They rescued two dogs from that location and 12 from a second location later that day. McNeil was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

• • June 2008 – Cincinnati, Ohio: Terry Kendrick, 47, was sentenced to 13.5 years after a March 2007 raid in Dayton resulted in the arrest of 19 people, including Kendrick, who was charged with 18 counts of dogfighting and marijuana trafficking. “Kendrick’s lawyers argued for a shorter sentence, saying Kendrick is a father, grandfather and active member of the community, working with young men in amateur boxing, and is involved in his church,” Fox 19 reported.

• • February 2008 – Tucson, Arizona: Emily E. Dennis, 63, Terry Williams, 52, Robert C. Smith, 55, Juan Verdin, 39, his wife, Zenaida Verdin, 35, and Mahlon T. Patrick, 63, “a man believed to be among the top three breeders of fighting dogs in the country,” tucson.com reported, were all arrested after a van transporting fighting dogs in Chicago shifted the investigation to Tucson. Police seized 150 dogs from various properties, treadmills, antibiotics, financial records and weapons.

• • October 2007 – Moultrie, Georgia: Xavier Barber, 25, was charged with 14 counts of animal cruelty, dogfighting and obstruction after police “found seven adult dogs, five puppies, and two midsized dogs, all malnourished and injured, outside a home at 805 First Avenue Southwest,” WALB reported.

• • August 2007 – Portland, Oregon: Dogfighter Robert Lee Sheahart, 38. was arrested after police rescued 11 pit bulls, including four puppies, and “seized equipment commonly used to train dogs to fight such as special collars, bite grips and treadmills,” the Argus Observer reported. According to Deputy District Attorney Mark McDonnell, “Sheahart ran a company called Dead Game Kennels, which he promoted on the Web and on a car, which carried the Web site address as well as a depiction of fighting dogs and people betting.”

• • July 2007 – South Holland, Illinois: Dogfighter Kevin Taylor was arrested and 37 dogs were removed from a soundproofed barn “after a neighbor told authorities that fighting dogs were being bred and raised in the home,” the Daily Illini reported. In 2011, Taylor was sentenced to three years in prison for the largest dogfighting bust in Illinois history and the fourth largest in U.S. history, per the Daily Illini.

• • January 2003 – Columbus, Ohio: Forty-one people, including 10 from Buffalo, New York, were arrested after 25 police officers and SWAT team members shot their way through the front door of “an auto body shop that never seemed to be open” to raid a dogfight. They rescued eight dogs, including two that “needed emergency medical attention” and confiscated over $25,000, handguns and drugs, according to the Buffalo News. Jemar T. Harris, 27, Ronald E. Miller, 24, Otis Bishop, 56, Tiffany Monique Johnson, 21, John T. Wesley, 21, and Changa D. Harris, 27, hailed from Buffalo, Otis Bishop, 26, Tyrone E. Ferguson, 29, and Jason H. Gilcrest, 26, attended from Amherst, and Shawn E. Boyette, 29, visited Columbus from Kenmore, New York. Buffalo police and the SPCA were well familiar with Otis Bishop’s family as well as Johnson, Ferguson and Boyette, SPCA spokeswoman Gina Browning told the Buffalo News.