Lake County, Ind. cops grab fighting dogs

[size=-1]United States -- [/size]Fifteen adult pit bulls rescued from a wooded Indiana yard on Memorial Day likely will be euthanized, police said, as they investigate a dog-fighting case against a Gary firefighter.

The dogs have been trained to be killers, said Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez. A 16th dog, a puppy, likely won't be put down, officials said.

Police have not talked to the firefighter they believe owns the dogs, but they have seized electric prods, a treadmill, medications and other alleged fighting equipment from his property. Investigators also found at least six dead dogs in plastic bags, police said.

"It's just tragic. The animals themselves, when we went there, were not aggressive to people, but when you put them near another animal, they just want to kill it," he said. "The things they did to these animals is inhumane. This is not something our society tolerates. I know I certainly do not."

Dominguez said the firefighter is out of town and that officers have spoken with his attorney.

Sheriff's police began their investigation into a possible dog-fighting ring Monday afternoon when a Calumet Township resident called about what he said were starving animals and the stench of carcasses.

An unremitting whining from a yard in the 3700 block of West 48th Place drew neighbor C.J. Majeski, he said.

Majeski said he found dogs staked with heavy tow chains outside shelters made from 55-gallon drums. The animals looked battered and didn't have food or water, he said.

"I walked back and forth for two hours with 5 gallon buckets. My wife took over dog food and biscuits," Majeski said. "It was cruel. There was a truckful of dead dogs."

Neighbors said the firefighter moved in about six months ago, and once every few Saturday nights, a dozen cars or so would line the block. Men would get out with dogs. Some dog handlers would leave with their animals, others would not, neighbors said.

Majeski said he once questioned his neighbor about the comings and goings: "I asked him if he was fighting dogs and he said he was just breeding them. I took him at his word. He seemed like a nice guy."

But after his call, police found about two dozen pieces of equipment they believe are associated with dog fighting, including a blood-soaked carpet.

"Some of these things look like they came from Dracula's castle," said Matt Lubarski, director of the Lake County Animal Control Center in Crown Point.

Police discovered electric prodding rods, a lamp cord fixed with alligator clips and harnesses weighted up to 50 pounds. In Lubarski's office stood one of the seized items: a contraption rigged to hold two dogs facing one another only inches apart, so the riled animals could battle without making contact.

His center is housing the dogs.

"If they see each other, they start this aggression," he said, describing a Tuesday morning incident.

Two dogs were in adjacent dog runs, separated by a chain-link fence.

"They latched onto one another and wouldn't let go," he said. "We had to sedate one of them to separate them. They are trained to fight. Once a pit bull latches on, it's as bad as a crocodile or an alligator."

At the shelter, some of the seized dogs wagged their tails at a visitor, while other underweight dogs barely moved. A stout brindle dog with a slash on his nose snarled at a puppy outside his cage.

Police expect to file charges by the end of the week, Dominguez said. Cruelty and dog-fighting charges are felonies, punishable by up to 3 years and $10,000 under Indiana law, he said.

But investigators are also pursuing leads that could end with charges against other participants, such as being a spectator to a dogfight, he said. If police determine that gambling occurred, a suspect could face Indiana forfeiture laws, he said.

Dominguez, who has worked as a law officer or attorney in the area for 25 years, said this is the first dog-fighting case he remembers.

"Here's a person who takes an oath to protect human life," he said, describing the owner of the modest red home. "When we went into the house, on the table is a Holy Bible. The Bible says to take care of all of God's creatures. It just totally contradicts what we found out there."

tmaxwell@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060530pitbulls,1,4441834.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

 

[size=-1]Heads up guys now a breeding stand is dog fighting Paraphernalia.

What will they think of next?
[/size][size=-1] [/size]

 

"Police have not talked to the firefighter they believe owns the dogs"

What? Is that normal? I guess they could have a search warrent, but are there entire articles on the internet without the guy knowing?

 

Hell Marty, they let em scrap while in their custody.....The story sounds as if they have embelished a bit .....filled in the story lines.

 

Carpet with blood and 4 boards.

Sounds like a welping box to me.

 

i agree with you guys, but the truckload of dead dogs? what could be up with that? just wondering. i do know that if the situation is bad enough they can come and sieze without the owner being present. as far as staked dogs and 55 gal doghouses...that all seems normal to me! it was funny that they mentioned how the dogs acted when they got near each other and even had two make contact....you dont think they were trying the "dog fighting sport" out for themselves do you?

 

it was funny that they mentioned how the dogs acted when they got near each other and even had two make contact....you dont think they were trying the "dog fighting sport" out for themselves do you?

Nah, they just don't know what the hell they're doing. In a PETA-perfect world, even "fighting" APBTs can frolic together in harmony.

 

6 corpses hardly equate to a "truck full of dead dogs". Breeding stands are not to fight animals without them ever making contact (mmmm how do animals fight if they cant touch eachother brainiacs!). Media sensationalizm at its best.

 

oh i didnt know there was only 6 dead, i must have skimmed over that part, sorry.

 

It said 6 dead and then a truckload, I don't know about y'all but my truck holds more then 6 dead dogs. Maybe they were using a little mazdad p/u. LOL IDK, It sounds like a BYB to me not no, dog fighting ring. Treadmills are always said to be dog fighting equipment. That's so bogus. and DUMB. People are ignorant. What's that song called? The world is full of stupid people.

 

The treadmill, weighted harness sounds like stuff we use to condition our dogs for pulling and show. The breeding stand that just shows how ignorant Cops can be all of it shows how the media can twist any thing around. I never believe any thing printed or said on tv in the media. The damning thing is having dead dogs in bags, and not having food and water available if those are true events in this case. Welping box. Sounds like this guy is only guilty of not being sanitary. However only haveing the Media version is no help to us to determine the true nature of the sciene. If the niegbors were drawn to a pup whinning then they sure as hell would have known if dogs were fighting at night. That noise is much louder than a whinning pup. I suppose any of us could be next on the list. This goes to show you that the public needs to be educated more on animal husbandry. Teaching about breading stands and welping boxes. Seems like any one should know this but the vast public is ignorant to it all and it shows. I have know idea what the electric prods and the cord with the alligator clamps is about but I have a cattle prod too and I use it on the Rams in my sheep herd as they weight 300 pounds and like nothing better than plowing you over with their horns. One hit can kill you. I reckon if my dog got into a fight I would tap one with it to end the fight. In 30 years I have had two fights among my dogs. Once over a toy and once my two bitch beagles got into it because the other got into the kennel with the other when she had pups. Never any thing I couldn't hande with my wistle. I allow my pit bulls to intereact with each other several times a day supervised. Sounds more like this fellow was just pumping out puppies. I admit keeping the dead dogs isn't a good idea and is kind of gross to think about. If an animal dies from some sickness I burn it then bury it, if it is from old age I bury it and put a head stone there in the back corner of my farm. Pets are part of your family. My dogs have only died of old age. Livestock is a different story. Even a dog used in fighting can make a good pet for a single dog family. I think the killing of dogs for dog or animal aggression is nonsense and a poor excuse for killing the dog. Human aggression yes but not towards other dogs. And especially cats.

 

red one of my books actually suggests getting a treadmill for a dog that may have an owner that cant keep up with its energetic personality, like if the owner gets sick or something i guess, maybe that was code for "start a dog fighting ring" lmao!

 

Shit the next thing you know these assholes will say that if you own a bulldog and a leash you have dog fighting paraphernalia!!

 

You kidding me?! The only people who own bulldogs are dog-fighting, drug-dealing, child-raping, women beating killers. Dont you read the papers? No responsible person would ever own one of *them* dogs :rollseyes:

 

LMAO!! How could I have forgot them facts.