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Tuesday, July 15, 2008


53 Detroit Dog Fighters and Spectators Busted

Cash, Weapons, Drugs Seized
Detroit, MI - Two dozen Wayne County deputies, including the Sheriff’s Special Response Team, as well as federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents and Michigan Humane Society officers, raided a dogfight being held just after midnight on Sunday inside a two-car garage on the east side. More than 50 people were arrested and $27,000 in cash was seized.

Spectators, as well as the fight’s ring leaders, now face felony animal fighting charges that carry up to four years in prison if they are convicted. Four people identified as organizers could face additional fines. A total of 53 people were arrested, including three juveniles under 17 who were turned over to their parents. Three handguns were also seized along with small amounts of narcotics.

The raid is significant because it is the first conducted by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office in a number of years. It is also significant because organizers and spectators usually operate in secrecy making it difficult for law enforcement to be properly positioned to raid a fight. Two pit bulls were injured from a fight match, one of which was shot after it bit a deputy then fled. It's reportedly still running loose.

In other news:

20 Fighting Dogs Placed Into Homes
South Holland, IL - In July 2007, 37 pit bulls were seized following a raid on a Chicago suburb home. Authorities called it the largest dog fighting training operation in the state. Kevin Taylor, 29, has been charged in the case. More than 20 dogs have new homes in what is being called the first case in Illinois history where so many animals have been adopted following a raid.

The article does not state into what types of homes the dogs were placed. Most of the time, ex-fighting dogs are placed with owners that have considerable property space, the dogs live outside the home in a penned environment and continue the only path of existence that they know: isolation and restriction from human and other animals.
These are hardly "family dogs" with colossal liability insurance to boot.
Related articles:
03/12/08: Bloodsport Bust: Alleged Bloodsport Breeds Charged
03/06/08: Wyoming Becomes 50th State to Criminalize Dogfighting

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6 comments:

Anonymous Anonymous  |  7/15/2008 4:06 AM  |  Flag  
According to Randall Lockwood, the Senior Vice President of the ASPCA, "true" fighting dogs don't bite human beings, particularly when being rescued from a fighting bust. Lockwood tells law enforcement agents in a recent training video that fighting pit bulls are the most docile of all to approach. So busy is he protecting pit bulls that he can't even instruct law enforcement officers to the real dangers that any dog might display when being ramped up to fight only to stop suddenly and be expected to become man's best friend...Here are his words:

"I've been involved in quite a few dogfight raids. I've handled a couple hundred pit bulls that have been seized in fighting operations over the years. I've had one old female kind of snarl at me, and that was about it. Most, pit bulls that you encounter in actual dogfight scenarios are often going to treat the law enforcement officers as the rescuing troops coming in. They are very people oriented, very people friendly, but they are still likely to be dog-aggressive."

Anonymous Anonymous  |  7/15/2008 8:49 AM  |  Flag  
Most, pit bulls that you encounter in actual dogfight scenarios are often going to treat the law enforcement officers as the rescuing troops coming in.

No they are not - they are DOGS! They have no concept of "rescue troops"!

There is no reason why ANY fighting dog should be adopted out - none. Such an act puts every other pet in the neighborhood at risk and is, in my view, animal cruelty.

Anonymous Anonymous  |  7/15/2008 8:59 AM  |  Flag  
I think that the above quote is a good example of the delusional anthropomorphizing that many people involved in animal rescue seem to cling to. Mr. Lockwood projects human emotion onto these animals....he thinks they look at the police and humane agents as "rescuers". These are animals....they have no idea who the police or humane officers are. They are not trying to escape the fighting ring....they are driven to fight, they want to fight, again, it is a self rewarding behavior; they want to be in that ring and get to that other dog the way a Lab wants to chase tennis balls. They have had the survival instinct bred out of them.

I really would like to see more emotionally healthy individuals involved in the humane movement; I fear that too many of these people have personal issues that prevent them from making sound evaluations of the animals they rescue. Many seem like misanthropes, who put the welfare of animals, far above the welfare of people.

Anonymous Anonymous  |  7/15/2008 1:50 PM  |  Flag  
"Most, pit bulls that you encounter in actual dogfight scenarios are often going to treat the law enforcement officers as the rescuing troops coming in."

This propaganda sound bite is eerily familiar...

Ooh yeah, that's right...

"I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators. "
(Dick Cheney, Meet the Press, 3/16/03)

Short honeymoon huh?

Anonymous David  |  7/17/2008 9:01 AM  |  Flag  
How does the pit bull now which people are there to rescue him? Why would he not think, his territory is being invaded?

Anonymous Anonymous  |  7/19/2008 2:10 AM  |  Flag  
I just wonder who will be held responsible when these dogs kill a neighborhood pet?!

The courts?

The rescue?

The amateur lion tamer owner?

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