HSYC In The News

Vicki Land, Director of the Chester County Animal Control Center, shows the mangled face of a pit bull she named "Lipless", after the dog was injured in a fight in which it killed a beagle.

BLOOD SPORT: Day 2
Dogfighting presents problems for local police, animal control officials

By Tim Eberly The Herald
(Published February 17‚ 2003)

Task force agents were on a drug hunt. Instead, they stumbled upon the largest pit bull fighting operation in recent history in Chester County, authorities say.

They went to the Armenia Road home of a 27-year-old man last February with a search warrant. A month earlier, the suspect had sold some marijuana for $20 to a confidential informant, according to court documents.

In the search, only a small amount of marijuana was recovered, warranting a misdemeanor drug charge, documents said.

Behind the home, however, officers discovered 21 scarred and malnourished pit bulls and one decomposed puppy carcass, according to sheriff's office reports. Some of the dogs had been imported from Florida, and many had "battle wounds" associated with dogfighting, former Chester task force agent Tony Gregory said.

"He was making his living selling and fighting dogs," said Gregory, who was investigating dogfighting before dying in a motorcycle accident last August.

Officers recovered a videotape of a 35-minute dog fight and a photo album of the suspect's lineup of dogs. Their names included "Little Chainsaw," "Dirty Female" and "Peaches."

The animals were promptly seized and are now being housed in an outdoor kennel at the county animal shelter.

The suspect was charged with one misdemeanor count of ill treatment of animals. He entered into a pre-trial intervention program, which is available for first-time offenders and allows them to have their record cleared if they meet certain requirements.

Acquiring pit bulls

Breeding pit bulls is a lucrative business fueled, in part, by the supply and demand of dogfighting.

Champion dogs sired by renowned fighters can make their owners a good living. Breeders pay a stud fee or offer the pick of the litter in order to mate their dogs with one that built a reputation in the ring. Champion stock can sell for as much as $5,000. The average price tag for the offspring of a controlled breeding is between $500 and $1,000.

A former Rock Hill handler, who asked not to be identified in this story, paid $900 for his last pit bull.

"You're paying for a bloodline," he said.

For three years, Jame Smith and her husband lived peacefully in their home, about four miles south of Clover.

Then in September, a couple moved in nearby and brought about 20 pit bulls with them. The dogs are kept on chains in the woods.

"We have lived in torment since these people moved in," Smith said. "They bark almost continuously. You can't have any rest or sleep."

Smith is not her real name but a psuedonym to protect her identity.

She filed several noise complaints with the York County Sheriff's Office. However, breeding the canine most often associated with dog fighting is not a crime, and there is no evidence Smith's neighbors breed pitbulls for fighting.

Handlers sometimes resort to alternate ways of acquiring a pit bull.

In some cases, they put the word out they're in the market for dogs, Gregory said. Thieves can pocket a fast $200 by selling a stolen pit bull.

"It's like taking a stolen merchandise to a front," Gregory said. "It's a big problem around here."

Tierra Cole, a senior at Northwestern High School, last summer received two pit bull puppies from a relative who couldn't afford them. About two months later, someone stole the puppies from cages on the front porch of her Simpson Street home. Before they were stolen, Cole said, teenage boys had tried to steal them on several occasions.

"I know that most boys like pit bulls to fight," she said.

Avoiding the law

The six dog fights busted in the tri-county area since 2001 are rare cases in which local law enforcement have had success in curbing the blood sport.

Participants are adept at keeping a low profile.To prevent word from spreading, organizers may release information about an upcoming event only two or three days before the fight date. To keep law enforcement off their trail, a location may be changed as many as five times, Gregory said.

News of an upcoming street fight spreads through tight-knit inner circles. Organized handlers rely on word-of-mouth, too. In the Carolinas, they have been known to circulate flyers that double as admission passes. Police scanners often are used to keep tabs on police activity. Big-money handlers may try to bribe law enforcement officers.

Higher-stakes conventions usually are staged in secluded locales in a rural area. The host may have constructed a pit in a barn or behind a home, sometimes with bleachers or concrete walls.

In inner-cities, participants are more prone to stage fights in abandoned buildings, garages or parks, with attendees forming a human ring around the combatants.

Such measures to dodge detection often is unnecessary. Police aren't able to devote significant resources to battling dog fighting, when they can't keep up with illicit drug traffic and other major crimes.

"We don't have the manpower," Gregory said. "It falls under a vice crime... We don't have a dogfighting unit."

European roots

Dogfighting dates back to ancient Greece and Rome but evolved during the 19th century in Europe, specifically England, before crossing the Atlantic.

According to Humane Society documents, Englishmen used the dogs in an event called bullbaiting, in which a bull was tied to a rope, had its horns covered with wax, and was prodded with sticks. When the bull became hostile, several pit bulls were released to attack it. Dogs that showed the most tenacity in the attack were rewarded.

When bullbaiting was outlawed in England in 1835, dogfighting was reborn.

Irish immigrants were largely responsible for its arrival in the United States in the mid-19th century. Larger cities with seaports, including Boston and San Francisco, were exposed first. Much like today, "dogfighting was cloaked under a cloud of secrecy," said Eric Sakach of the Humane Society of the United States.

In 1898, the United Kennel Club outlined a list to standardize rules for dog fights. (The UKC has since denounced the sport.)

From the early 1900s until the Korean War, dogfighting was on the upswing. After a steady incline, the pastime has exploded in popularity during the past 15 years -- glamorized by some celebrity rap artists.

"These are groups or singers that young kids hear, especially in the inner cities," said Robert Reder, the Humane Society's West Coast office coordinator. "... It sort of puts a stamp of approval on it (dogfighting)."

A staple of crime-plagued inner cities, dogfighting bled from metropolitan areas to rural countrysides. Northern Florida and upstate New York are current hot spots. South Carolina lagged behind Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina's in picking up the pastime, the former handler said. Now, Chester County and an area north of Kannapolis, N.C., are reputed hotbeds of organized fights, he added.

Though not as common, dog fights occurred in Rock Hill 20 years ago, he said, but it wasn't until four or five years ago that dogfighting became widespread locally, the former handler said. Authorities agree.

For Chester County Animal Control Director Vicky Land, the seized pit bulls she nursed back to health are a constant reminder.

Too violent for society

"Lipless" may die soon.

A 1-year-old white pit bull missing a chunk of its lower lip -- Chester County animal control officers renamed him with the facial deformity in mind -- Lipless is one of 11 pit bulls from the Feb. 19, 2002, bust still confined at the county shelter.

Of the original 21 dogs, five have since died and five were stolen in three separate break-ins -- a testament to the value of trained fighters. If Land has her way, the remaining dogs will soon be killed.

In the last year, since authorities requested the seized animals be held as evidence, at least a dozen fights have broken out involving the pit bulls. Lipless, the alpha male of the group, killed three dogs, injured three others and nearly lost his own life in a July 24 brawl.

Friday afternoon, Lipless attacked Land while she was showing the pit bulls to a local television reporter. Land was able to free herself from the pit bull's grip only after it ripped off a chunk of her blue jeans.

Authorities say it's almost impossible to recondition these dogs to be household pets.

"They're too far gone," said Land, who erected a makeshift outdoor kennel to isolate the pit bulls. "The damage has already been done. They need to be euthanized."

Initially, Land was intent on keeping the "evidence" to do her part in putting the animals' owner behind bars. Now she just wants her shelter back.

She recently asked prosecutors to broker a plea bargain with the suspect. One possible resolution would require the owner signing his dogs over to the shelter. In exchange, the misdemeanor charge could be dropped and the dogs could be put down.

"I could live with the satisfaction that he doesn't get his dogs back," Land said.

Contact Tim Eberly at 329-4063 or teberly@heraldonline.com.

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