Baltimore City police bust alleged dogfighting ring ......

Dogs recover after police bust alleged dog-fighting ring

BALTIMORE —City police busted an alleged dogfighting ring operating out of two locations in west Baltimore while they were searching one of the homes for drugs.

POLICE MAKE ARRESTS AFTER DOGFIGHTING RING UNCOVERED

Police say they found dogs chained to the blood-spattered walls of a west Baltimore row house with a fighting ring inside, and the house was part of a larger dog-fighting ring in the area. Kerry Cavanaugh has the details.

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Police said 15 pit bulls, 14 that were injured and one that was dead, were found at a row home in the 2800 block of West Lafayette Avenue on Tuesday evening.

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"The conditions here were rough. There's a lot of evidence of dogfighting that happened in this location," said Detective Patrick Huter of the city's canine animal abuse task force.

Investigators arrested the dogs' owner, who they described as the leader of a west Baltimore dogfighting ring. They said he outfitted the narrow row house as a gruesome training center and fighting venue that was equipped with treadmills.

"There was blood splatter on the carpets and walls, and an actual ring where the dogs were being fought. Dogs were chained to the walls, and there were scales," Huter said.

Officials said that location was part of a larger dogfighting ring operating out of that part of town.

Police told 11 News they uncovered the operation while searching a nearby home in the 500 block of Fulton Avenue for drugs on Friday. Officials said that house was packed with marijuana and other drugs, several guns and 11 dogs, including a dead pit bull in the back yard.

Officials told 11 News that five people were arrested between the two homes. They will face dogfighting, weapons and drug charges.

"You know, the punishment is not strong enough for animal cruelty in Maryland. It needs to be a much stronger punishment. People need to know that this is taken very seriously," said Jennifer Brause, the executive director of the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said the case shows how dogfighting is closely tied to other types of crime.

"If individuals will abuse animals, the likelihood that they will treat humans violently is also very high. So, we see this as part of an overall strategy to reducing violence in the city," she said.

"It obviously brings a lot of criminals together, and in this case alone, I think we saw this was connected to a drug organization where there were guns involved," said police Lt. Col. Dan Lioli.

Police have not yet released the identities of the people arrested, but they said more arrests may be imminent.

Officials told 11 News that some of the 26 dogs that were seized had fresh fighting wounds. Those dogs were taken to BARCS.

Rescued dogs begin recovery

Most of the 24 dogs taken to BARCS were doing surprisingly well Wednesday considering that investigators said they were recovered in horrific conditions.

Four-month-old pit bull Angel was a little scared but has a sweet disposition, Brause said. She was one of dogs recovered.

"She's an innocent victim in this situation. You can see here how her ears are cut basically. They cut off their ears like this so they can prepare dogs for dogfighting. They do this so that other dogs cannot grab a hold of their ears and take advantage of that dog," Brause said.

Police said one of the dogs found at the home raided on Friday had to be euthanized for aggression.

"Most of the dogs do appear overall in good condition. They do, however, have some scarring, some fresh scarring and some old scars, which is consistent with dogfighting," Brause said.

In the meantime, BARCS will continue to evaluate the dogs over the next several weeks, and they hope all of them can end up in good homes.

"Some of the animals I think will be perfectly fine going up for adoption. I think others will need to go to rescue groups where they can further evaluate them and work with them and find out if they are going to be able to be acclimated into a home environment," Brause said.

The State's Attorney Office said the person arrested in Tuesday's raid was not booked in jail and has not yet been charged.

11 News reporters Kerry Cavanaugh and Kim Dacey contributed to this story.



City police bust alleged dogfighting ring | Baltimore City News - WBAL Home


Police make arrests after dogfighting ring uncovered | Baltimore City News - WBAL Home