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Harris County cracks down on dog fighting
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| A trailer containing 20 kennels of abused and mistreated pit bulls is removed from the property by the Houston Humane Society after its owner was charged with illegal dog fighting Friday morning. The arrest is part of a greater, ongoing sweep of the county targeting suspected dog fighters. |
By JOSH HARDWICK
Mary Lewis expected roofers to come to her house for a little remodeling the morning of Nov. 14. Instead she looked out her window to see police officers with masks and guns.
Unbeknownst to Lewis, the armed officers were just one part of a large-scale raid conducted Friday aimed at rooting out what officials are calling one of the largest organized dog fighting rings in the country.
Officers arrested Lewis’ neighbor at his property near the intersection of FM 1942 and Garth Road in Baytown - after finding 20 scarred and emaciated pit bulls being held there.
Tim Harkness, veterinarian for the Houston Humane Society, said that the dogs were bound with heavy chains and were forced to stand in pits of muddy, cold water.
Many were dangerously thin and showed evidence of facial wounds caused by fights, while others had abscessed wounds, bacterial skin infections, fleas and parasites.
“With the weather about to change in the next couple of days, a lot of them would have died,” he said. “Euthanasia is a better option than the one these dogs were trying to survive with.”
The dogs will be taken to a central location and individually examined, but their ultimate fates will be decided in court, Harkness said.
A bigger picture
The Garth Road arrest was one of eight suspects arrested in Friday’s raid, though officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety said this could be just the tip of the iceberg for an additional 43 suspects being sought in connection with the dog fighting operation.
Acting on an outside tip, spokesman Lisa Block said that undercover DPS agents had attended dozens of dog fights for more than a year prior to Friday’s bust, and obtained evidence suggesting that heavy drug trafficking and theft are also entwined with the operation.
Investigators uncovered evidence of dog fights, some with as many as 100 spectators at a time, that span five counties including Harris, Montgomery, Matagorda, Tyler and Jasper.
Agents also discovered that many of the dogs were being purposely inbred with the goal of increasing their inclination toward erratic and violent behavior.
“A lot of time and effort was put into the training of these dogs,” said Block.
It is the agency’s hope that Friday’s crackdown will stem a disturbing trend in a state where the popularity of dog fighting appears to be on the rise.
“Many people in Texas still believe that dog fighting is entertainment. We are here to tell you that it is not entertainment, it’s a crime,” Block added.
The eight suspects are currently being held in Harris County jail. Forty-one felony charges were filed as a result of Friday’s arrests.
Neighbors knew nothing
Meanwhile Lewis - herself a dog owner - said that in the year she knew her neighbor she never heard or saw anything that might have aroused suspicions of the terrible things happening on the property.
She admitted to watching him carry kennels of dogs to and from the property on occasion, but said that the animals all seemed perfectly healthy.
“He told us that he had the dogs because he used them as hunting dogs, pulling dogs and show dogs,” she said. “I had no clue he was keeping fighting dogs. I just took the man at his word.”
As for the suspect himself, Lewis said didn’t know him personally but might have once described him as a, “good guy” who always treated her cordially and had once even attended the same church she attends.
After this incident, however, she said she has a very different opinion of the man with regards to the abuse he is accused of perpetrating.
“It’s a crime, it shouldn’t be going on and had I known I would have reported it myself,” she said.
Unbeknownst to Lewis, the armed officers were just one part of a large-scale raid conducted Friday aimed at rooting out what officials are calling one of the largest organized dog fighting rings in the country.
Officers arrested Lewis’ neighbor at his property near the intersection of FM 1942 and Garth Road in Baytown - after finding 20 scarred and emaciated pit bulls being held there.
Tim Harkness, veterinarian for the Houston Humane Society, said that the dogs were bound with heavy chains and were forced to stand in pits of muddy, cold water.
Many were dangerously thin and showed evidence of facial wounds caused by fights, while others had abscessed wounds, bacterial skin infections, fleas and parasites.
“With the weather about to change in the next couple of days, a lot of them would have died,” he said. “Euthanasia is a better option than the one these dogs were trying to survive with.”
The dogs will be taken to a central location and individually examined, but their ultimate fates will be decided in court, Harkness said.
A bigger picture
The Garth Road arrest was one of eight suspects arrested in Friday’s raid, though officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety said this could be just the tip of the iceberg for an additional 43 suspects being sought in connection with the dog fighting operation.
Acting on an outside tip, spokesman Lisa Block said that undercover DPS agents had attended dozens of dog fights for more than a year prior to Friday’s bust, and obtained evidence suggesting that heavy drug trafficking and theft are also entwined with the operation.
Investigators uncovered evidence of dog fights, some with as many as 100 spectators at a time, that span five counties including Harris, Montgomery, Matagorda, Tyler and Jasper.
Agents also discovered that many of the dogs were being purposely inbred with the goal of increasing their inclination toward erratic and violent behavior.
“A lot of time and effort was put into the training of these dogs,” said Block.
It is the agency’s hope that Friday’s crackdown will stem a disturbing trend in a state where the popularity of dog fighting appears to be on the rise.
“Many people in Texas still believe that dog fighting is entertainment. We are here to tell you that it is not entertainment, it’s a crime,” Block added.
The eight suspects are currently being held in Harris County jail. Forty-one felony charges were filed as a result of Friday’s arrests.
Neighbors knew nothing
Meanwhile Lewis - herself a dog owner - said that in the year she knew her neighbor she never heard or saw anything that might have aroused suspicions of the terrible things happening on the property.
She admitted to watching him carry kennels of dogs to and from the property on occasion, but said that the animals all seemed perfectly healthy.
“He told us that he had the dogs because he used them as hunting dogs, pulling dogs and show dogs,” she said. “I had no clue he was keeping fighting dogs. I just took the man at his word.”
As for the suspect himself, Lewis said didn’t know him personally but might have once described him as a, “good guy” who always treated her cordially and had once even attended the same church she attends.
After this incident, however, she said she has a very different opinion of the man with regards to the abuse he is accused of perpetrating.
“It’s a crime, it shouldn’t be going on and had I known I would have reported it myself,” she said.
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