Four people have been arrested in Maywood for running an alleged dog fighting ring that happened to be in the same home as a day care. Officers raided the day care and two nearby homes earlier today in order to rescue the dogs involved. At the Animal Welfare League in suburban Chicago Ridge, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said, “The dogs were in horrific condition. This is as bad as we’ve seen.” Several of the dogs have undergone surgery since being removed.
Authorities described battered and malnourished dogs, and noted the devices used to train them were not far from where the day care’s children played. One of the nine rescued dogs was an 8-week-old puppy that was missing an eye and had scratches on its face from being thrown into fights.
The scene in the garage was gruesome with blood spatter and items such as bite sticks and a treadmill that had been fixed to be used to train dogs. A 1996 edition of Sporting Dog Journal was also discovered.
Felony dog fighting charges are pending against the people arrested, including the day care operator’s husband. Ten children were in the day care at the time of the raid but were not in the vicinity of the dogs. Kendall Marlowe, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, said the day care had been licensed since March 2004 for a capacity of seven children and has been under investigation. Two complaints were received a few years ago about dogs, but DCFS officials made unannounced visits and the dogs were never found near the children.
The day care is now closed and it will be monitored in the future to be sure it does not reopen. Linda Estrada, president of the Animal Welfare League, said the dogs were being evaluated and will eventually go up for adoption.
Comments
As a pitbull owner I am disgusted. It takes a very sick person to do this 2 animals. My pit is a very healthy,loving dog . It is sickos like this that makes it hard for good people to have pitbulls! Pitbulls are illegal in alot of places and this is why. Pits are born with a flaw that they cannot change... their huge jaws. Some sub-human people exploit pits for their strength and agression.. Heres an idea... let the people who think it is entertaining to make pits fight,they should fight themselves. Not these poor animals who they give no choice. Make the people who perpetuate the behavior illegal,not the animals!I love my pit and would never allow my pup to fight...I have a heart and a conscious!
Amen to you, M. Aviles! I am with you 1000%!
i couldn't agree with you more M. Aviles! I enjoy watching the UFC guys and other ppl beat the crap out of each other.. because if you're trying to have the "tough" look.. don't be a pussy and fight dogs. fight other people yourself! and to the death. ugh, i'd pay a million bucks to see that. and pit bulls are so sweet and will do ANYTHING FOR YOU, its really sad that those a-holes exploit that trait to make them fight. i love my pitty and i have two other large dogs that are both lab mixes. and though they both love me and ask for lovins, they don't love me like my pit does. he follows me everywhere and would rather be givin' me kisses than chewing on his bone! if you want to show off how big and strong your bully is, they should enroll them in pulling competitions! much better for everyone involved.
I am under the assumption that the town of Homewood is responsible for the dog fighting. I think the title of this news is misleading since the town of Maywood is where the dog fighting took place. Am i missing something here?
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