MS: 'Major players' at dog fight in Benton County, authorities say

'Major players' at dog fight in Benton County, authorities say
Apr 1, 2013

Some of the people fighting their pit bull dogs on heavily wooded property north of Ashland in Benton County are considered “major players,” according to officials.

“This was one of the premiere dogfights in the country, if you will,” said Marshall County Sheriff Kenny Dickerson. “They have five or six a year according to our intelligence.”

Nearly 60 people were arrested over the weekend with some coming as far away as California, Ohio and Illinois, officials said.

Christian Schindler, spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States, said 20 dogs were recovered. One of them had to be euthanized and another is in bad condition despite vets’ best efforts.

“Unfortunately, these guys who engage in this are everywhere, and felony penalties are a deterrent, but don’t stop them completely,” said Schindler. “In this situation, they ended up on this property because they felt they had a location where they could hold this large- scale event and go unnoticed.”

Schindler said rehabilitation of the dogs will be attempted through the organization’s network of more than 80 partners.

Dickerson said the investigation was the effort of many agencies, some of which were out of state. They worked together to pin down where the event was going to take place.

“We just narrowed it down through intelligence and confidential information we were gathering from different sources, came to the conclusion the fight was going to be where it was,” he said.

The land was in a remote area of the county, near the Wolf River.. Dickerson said investigators are looking into whether the property owner or his family knew anything about the fighting ring.

The fights, he said, were held in a new barn behind a new metal fence with a new chain and a new lock.

When more than 100 officers and agents swarmed the property, Dickerson said, “they were in the middle of fighting, and some fled the scene and fired shots as they were leaving. Nobody was injured, thank goodness.”

Two of the dogs were fighting, and the others were being held in vehicles until their times to fight, Dickerson said.

The suspects faced a judge Monday and were each bound over to a grand jury and given a $20,000 bond.

Schindler complimented the work of the law enforcement agencies..

“This brought some of the major players from around the country; some ” he said. “Fortunately the investigators were able to shut this operation down. Really, these are phenomenal law enforcement agencies … working together to shut this down.”

Schindler said he hopes the roundup shows the law’s commitment to weeding out dog fighting rings.

In February, Hinds County Chief Deputy Chris Picou said deputies found disturbing information during a raid of a dogfighting ring in Utica that involved 26 “very aggressive” dogs.

“They had charts where they were keeping up with which dogs were winning. They had breeding information and the best dogs being produced,” he said. “We found portable dog pits set up for fights and a trailer that was used for fighting.”

According to Mississippi Code, anyone fighting a dog or holding a dog fight can be fined up to $5,000 and may spend up to three years in the state penitentiary. Those convicted of watching a dog fight can be fined up to $5,000 and may spend up to a year in prison.

Investigators are still looking for those who may have escaped the dog fighting ring, and the Humane Society is offering up to a $5,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to a conviction.















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