dog fighting, 25 pit bulls -->busted
Missouri dogfighting raid nets 3 men, 26 dogs
Amy McCubbins, at left, joins Patience Scanlon as they take
blood from one of 25 pit bulls and a beagle seized from an
organized dog fight outside Dudley, Mo. early Sunday.
ST. LOUIS - Twenty-five pit bulls, one beagle and boxes of evidence from one of the state's largest dogfighting rings were carted to St. Louis early Sunday after authorities raided a barn south of here, in Stoddard County.
Investigators were amazed at the amount of equipment they seized: two treadmills designed to build up a fighting dog's endurance; medical supplies to mend a tattered fighter; and journal upon journal detailing the fights' grisly outcomes.
Police arrested three men, including one from Tennessee who is well-known in southeastern Missouri for animal fighting, said Kyle Held, a statewide investigator with the Humane Society of Missouri.
Jessey Short, 30, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., Curtis Pickering, 28, of South Fulton, Tenn., and Jamie Sifford, 29, of Dudley, Mo., were being held Sunday night on dogfighting charges at the Stoddard County Jail. Short and Pickering were held in lieu of $125,000 bail; Sifford was held without bail.
Many of the dogs had scars. Some had bite wounds and ripped ears. The dogs and one puppy were photographed for evidence and examined by veterinarians Sunday at the Humane Society's headquarters on Macklind Avenue.
Once the court case is over, Held said, the dogs will probably be euthanized, as dogs from previous raids have been. These are not adoptable pets, he added.
"If you're walking them and you came across another dog, their job is to do everything they can to kill another animal," Held said.
The fighting ring or pit was inside a horse stall in a newly built barn off Highway WW near the town of Dudley, about 2 1/2 hours south of St. Louis. The ring was carpeted so the dogs could get traction when fighting, and it was soaked in blood, said Tim Rickey, director of Rescue and Investigations for Missouri's Humane Society.
Investigators found a burn pile where syringes and medicine vials had been tossed, but they found no evidence of dead animals on the property.
The Stoddard County Sheriff's Department got a tip about the ring Friday afternoon, obtained a search warrant and put the property under surveillance before raiding it early Sunday. The Missouri Highway Patrol and the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force helped in the raid. The Humane Society investigators, who do not carry guns and do not have arrest powers, teamed up with sheriff's deputies to confiscate the dogs and equipment.
The police raid came at a time when dogfighting is in the national spotlight, after suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty in late August to federal dogfighting charges in Virginia.
The Vick case has heightened the public's awareness level and has led to more tips in Missouri, Rickey said.
"They see suspicious activity and drive by and see a lot of pit bulls and people in a barn or shed late at night," Rickey said. "Sometimes it's accurate, and sometimes it's not. At least people are looking at it."
Although dogfighting is a felony in Missouri, investigators believe it happens regularly in every county. Most of the time, when investigators get tips, they arrive after the fighting is over. They might find a few dogs or a few pieces of equipment - but nothing like the cache this weekend.
"Generally, our tips are very generic, and it's tough to get in there and do something about it," Rickey said. "That's why this tip was so good - they actually named names and the location. They were in the process of setting up a fight that night."
The combination of two factors made this weekend's raid so significant: the large number of dogs and the amount of paraphernalia seized. Rickey said that made this seizure the largest of any in at least five years in Missouri.
The journals had detailed accounts of matches, rankings, breeding stock and winners. Some entries were in code. Ten to 15 so-called "break sticks" were recovered. A break stick is a hammer handle used to pry a pit bull's jaws off another dog.
Although Held said he doubted the dogs could be adopted, Humane Society spokeswoman Jeane Jae wouldn't rule it out. The dogs are being held as evidence. Once the court case is over, their behavior will be evaluated.
"It's possible that they could be placed in a special adoptive situation, like a pit bull rescue organization, with people who have experience with pit bulls as companion animals," Jae said. "But it would be very special and under just the right circumstances."
In the Vick case, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals led a team of experts to evaluate 49 pit bulls. It found that only one was deemed unfit for rehabilitation and recommended for euthanasia. The others have a potential for some type of placement, the ASPCA said.
kbell@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8115
Amy McCubbins, at left, joins Patience Scanlon as they take
blood from one of 25 pit bulls and a beagle seized from an
organized dog fight outside Dudley, Mo. early Sunday.
ST. LOUIS - Twenty-five pit bulls, one beagle and boxes of evidence from one of the state's largest dogfighting rings were carted to St. Louis early Sunday after authorities raided a barn south of here, in Stoddard County.
Investigators were amazed at the amount of equipment they seized: two treadmills designed to build up a fighting dog's endurance; medical supplies to mend a tattered fighter; and journal upon journal detailing the fights' grisly outcomes.
Police arrested three men, including one from Tennessee who is well-known in southeastern Missouri for animal fighting, said Kyle Held, a statewide investigator with the Humane Society of Missouri.
Jessey Short, 30, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., Curtis Pickering, 28, of South Fulton, Tenn., and Jamie Sifford, 29, of Dudley, Mo., were being held Sunday night on dogfighting charges at the Stoddard County Jail. Short and Pickering were held in lieu of $125,000 bail; Sifford was held without bail.
Many of the dogs had scars. Some had bite wounds and ripped ears. The dogs and one puppy were photographed for evidence and examined by veterinarians Sunday at the Humane Society's headquarters on Macklind Avenue.
Once the court case is over, Held said, the dogs will probably be euthanized, as dogs from previous raids have been. These are not adoptable pets, he added.
"If you're walking them and you came across another dog, their job is to do everything they can to kill another animal," Held said.
The fighting ring or pit was inside a horse stall in a newly built barn off Highway WW near the town of Dudley, about 2 1/2 hours south of St. Louis. The ring was carpeted so the dogs could get traction when fighting, and it was soaked in blood, said Tim Rickey, director of Rescue and Investigations for Missouri's Humane Society.
Investigators found a burn pile where syringes and medicine vials had been tossed, but they found no evidence of dead animals on the property.
The Stoddard County Sheriff's Department got a tip about the ring Friday afternoon, obtained a search warrant and put the property under surveillance before raiding it early Sunday. The Missouri Highway Patrol and the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force helped in the raid. The Humane Society investigators, who do not carry guns and do not have arrest powers, teamed up with sheriff's deputies to confiscate the dogs and equipment.
The police raid came at a time when dogfighting is in the national spotlight, after suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty in late August to federal dogfighting charges in Virginia.
The Vick case has heightened the public's awareness level and has led to more tips in Missouri, Rickey said.
"They see suspicious activity and drive by and see a lot of pit bulls and people in a barn or shed late at night," Rickey said. "Sometimes it's accurate, and sometimes it's not. At least people are looking at it."
Although dogfighting is a felony in Missouri, investigators believe it happens regularly in every county. Most of the time, when investigators get tips, they arrive after the fighting is over. They might find a few dogs or a few pieces of equipment - but nothing like the cache this weekend.
"Generally, our tips are very generic, and it's tough to get in there and do something about it," Rickey said. "That's why this tip was so good - they actually named names and the location. They were in the process of setting up a fight that night."
The combination of two factors made this weekend's raid so significant: the large number of dogs and the amount of paraphernalia seized. Rickey said that made this seizure the largest of any in at least five years in Missouri.
The journals had detailed accounts of matches, rankings, breeding stock and winners. Some entries were in code. Ten to 15 so-called "break sticks" were recovered. A break stick is a hammer handle used to pry a pit bull's jaws off another dog.
Although Held said he doubted the dogs could be adopted, Humane Society spokeswoman Jeane Jae wouldn't rule it out. The dogs are being held as evidence. Once the court case is over, their behavior will be evaluated.
"It's possible that they could be placed in a special adoptive situation, like a pit bull rescue organization, with people who have experience with pit bulls as companion animals," Jae said. "But it would be very special and under just the right circumstances."
In the Vick case, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals led a team of experts to evaluate 49 pit bulls. It found that only one was deemed unfit for rehabilitation and recommended for euthanasia. The others have a potential for some type of placement, the ASPCA said.
kbell@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8115
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Hang em high. [:(!][:(!] 0 -
WORD! 0 -
Beagle?? Them Pits didn't have a chance. 0 -
Come on Guys, we all know Pitts are peaceful loving dogs that wouldn't hurt any dog. Just like the other day when my neighbor was walking his two rat dogs, the two pitts from across the street came over to play and the rat dogs chased them away. The neighbor had to fire a warning shot to stop his rat dogs from attacking the Pitts. The cops came and spoke with my neighbor and then went across the street, I guess to appologize for the attack of the rat dogs. 0
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