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Largest dog fighting raid in U.S. history
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Last week law enforcement agencies from eight different states joined forces to raid multiple dog fighting operations and rescued 450 dogs in the process. It was the largest single day raid against dog fighting in U.S. history.
The cooperative effort joined together four United States Attorneys, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Office, the Department of Agriculture and numerous local law enforcement agencies. It also included the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of Missouri.
Scotlund Haisley, senior director of Emergency Services for the Humane Society of Missouri said, “When our crew woke up yesterday before day break I knew the task before us was unprecedented, and that the day’s work would change the face of dog fighting forever.”
“Nothing in our 50-year campaign against animal fighting – or in any other organization’s fight against the cruel industry – has ever sent as strong a message as this record-breaking enforcement and rescue operation.”
The operation began months ago with investigators gathering evidence for the raid. Dog fighting rings in Missouri, Texas, Okalahoma, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas, Mississippi and Nebraska were targeted.
Chris Schindler from HSUS oversaw the Texas raid. He said, “You’d never guess that in Texas, amid farm houses and well-kept estates, laid a hidden world of animal suffering. Yet behind the palatial exterior of an alleged dog fighter’s countryside home, my colleagues and I, along with federal agents, found the unmistakable horror of a dog fighting operation.”
The raid led to the arrests of 26 people. The Humane Society of Missouri is housing the majority of the rescued dogs at their facility. Each dog will be evaluated by experts to determine if they can be rehabilitated.
In 2007 President Bush signed the American Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act that made dog fighting a felony. If convicted the people running the illegal dog fighting rings could face a $250,000 fine and 5 years in prison.
Source: HSUS and Dogster
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