How unlawful canine combating has tailored and continued to thrive within the shadows

Columbia, South Carolina
CNN
 — 

On a darkish, drizzly morning this fall in rural South Carolina, a crew of federal brokers sporting tactical gear quietly assembled for a mission that was half raid, half rescue operation.

The stakes had been excessive: Agents feared the victims can be emaciated, dehydrated and certain chained up. Many had been in all probability injured; some may already be useless.

As it turned out, the victims—practically 40 pit bulls—had been saved, although indicators of abuse had been evident.

It was the type of scene veteran brokers had come to anticipate within the shadowy world of canine combating. The underground blood sport as soon as garnered worldwide headlines in 2007 when NFL star Michael Vick pleaded responsible to a federal cost associated to canine combating. A decade and a half later, that highlight has light, however the issue persists.

A CNN investigation discovered that federal authorities seized extra dogs final yr—by civil forfeitures—than another yr since Vick was indicted. Court data and interviews additional reveal how canine combating has advanced within the web age with canine house owners turning to encrypted messaging apps to alternate coaching ideas and prepare fights. Hundreds of hundreds of {dollars} might change fingers in a single match and breeders could make hundreds on vials of semen or gross sales of pups.

While the brutal matches have been held in cities and cities throughout the nation, data present, federal authorities are seizing massive portions of the animals within the southeastern US—largely as a result of the US Attorney’s workplace in South Carolina has two prosecutors who give attention to such instances.

Elle Klein, a type of attorneys, recalled the primary time she arrived within the aftermath of a canine combating bust. She noticed a wounded black canine tied to a tree. He was bleeding and had flesh dangling from his ears. As she approached, his tail started to wag.

“It really did light a fire under me,” stated Klein, who has helped rescue tons of of animals from suspected combating rings throughout her state. “It made me mad that all these people were here doing this, gambling on it, watching it, feeding into this disgusting culture.”

Dog combating has been round for millennia. However, most Americans possible knew little in regards to the sport when it catapulted into public view in 2007. That April, state brokers swarmed a home in rural Virginia, armed with a search warrant and suspicions that Vick, one of many highest-paid gamers within the NFL on the time, was utilizing the property to run a canine combating ring.

Dozens of injured, scarred dogs who had been bred to struggle had been recovered from the property. Court data outlined how the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons poured money into the blood sport, buying the property the place he held the animals shortly after he signed his first NFL contract in 2001. Vick and his co-defendants, who used the Virginia ranch as a predominant staging space to coach, home and struggle their animals, every pleaded responsible to a felony cost in reference to canine combating.

George W. Bush signed a regulation in May 2007 that made canine combating a felony on the federal stage.

Vick served practically two years in federal prison, returned to the NFL and later signed a $100 million contract. He now serves as an analyst for Fox Sports.

“I take full responsibility for my actions,” Vick told reporters after he pleaded responsible in 2007. “Not for one second will I sit right here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else for my actions or what I’ve done.”

Vick declined CNN’s request for an interview with reference to canine combating.

At first, the general public outcry and federal curiosity that adopted Vick’s case had a chilling impact on the blood sport. Authorities used Bush’s new regulation to focus on large-scale dog-fighting rings, conducting a record-breaking raid within the Midwest that led to the rescue of tons of of dogs in 2009. But as these instances light from view, canine fighters returned to business and sought to make their operations much more clandestine.

A brand-new canine combating world

Years in the past, canine fighters—and the authorities that tracked the estimated 40,000 people concerned in organized canine combating within the US—relied on word-of-mouth or underground magazines to study recent matches, coaching methods and medical look after combating animals.

But the web has utterly reworked how fighters be taught: A couple of Google searches can inform an enterprising canine proprietor learn how to use a slat mill—a treadmill made for dogs—to situation their animal. YouTube can inform a dogfighter learn how to use a flirt pole—a persist with a bungee twine hooked up to it—to enhance their endurance. Those keen on breeding pit bulls can study bloodlines from Reddit customers.

It has additionally altered how canine fighters talk: Dog fighters usually share their canine’s weight and gender in non-public social media teams or by encrypted messaging apps to rearrange a struggle.

A Virginia-based canine fighter used Facebook to arrange matches for his canine named Durantula, in keeping with a 2022 indictment. He described his champion’s recent struggle as “another DOA,” posting that it was a “15 mins chest & gut kill.”

A Michigan-based canine fighter, indicted in 2018, used WhatsApp to share movies of animals combating, together with one which featured “Barracuda,” who he describes as a “straight finisher throat and kidneys!!!”

Social media has additionally revamped how spectators view a match.

“Back in the day, when you arranged your dog fight, people had to come in person to see it,” stated Virginia Maxwell, a professor on the forensic science division on the University of New Haven with an experience in investigating animal crimes. “Now, of course, they livestream them.”

Fights usually take place in backyards or basements. A canine’s handler usually stands on the sting of the ring, inside eyesight of their prizefighter always. The animals usually battle till one or each of the dogs can not struggle or one dies. At instances, handlers throw within the towel to avoid wasting a canine prone to lose the match. Some dogs win one or two consecutive fights. Dogs who win three are often known as “Champions.” A canine with 5 wins—and specialists say there aren’t many—are dubbed “Grand Champions.”

A 2017 match attended by a Virginia canine fighter featured a pit bull named “Eulogy” that lasted one hour and 59 minutes, courtroom data present. That canine fighter posted a “play-by-play” of the brutal encounter on Facebook. Prosecutors have detailed how fighters used non-public teams on Telegram to rearrange fights and focus on winnings. One canine, a fighter described to others in a personal group, had received $50,000 in a single match.

It’s been a continuing recreation of cat and mouse between regulation enforcement and canine fighters over the years. And not too long ago, federal curiosity within the blood sport has spiked.

Last yr, federal officers seized roughly 400 dogs from suspected dog-fighting rings, greater than in another yr since a minimum of 2007, in keeping with a CNN evaluation of federal civil forfeitures. This quantity doesn’t embody dogs that had been surrendered or dogs seized by state or native authorities. The uptick comes after years by which such seizures had been unusual.

Few places of work have contributed to the rise as a lot because the South Carolina US Attorney’s workplace, which has two prosecutors—Elle Klein and Jane Taylor—who’ve single-handedly rescued tons of of dogs.

Taylor, the workplace’s legal chief, had been working to take down South Carolina drug sellers because the mid-Nineties. While pursuing a drug case, she discovered herself listening to a dialog through wiretap about canine combating.

“I prosecute a lot of drug dealers. And I’m not saying that they’re all good people, but a lot of them are good people that just do bad things,” Taylor stated. “Dog fighting for me is something totally different.”

Court data present grisly particulars on how grotesque the game will be.

When a Pentagon official was indicted in October, authorities searched his residence and found blood stains in his home’s basement on the partitions, furnishings and wooden panels, the place prosecutors allege he fought dogs. Prosecutors allege that Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr., owned a “rape rack,” which constrains a feminine canine for breeding functions, and a tool made up of jumper cables that seems to have been used to electrocute dogs after a shedding struggle. The docket for the case exhibits Moorefield pleaded not responsible. His lawyer didn’t reply to requests for remark.

A prosecutor who tried a New York City building superintendent in 2012 additionally suspected that he electrocuted shedding dogs and that he then took the our bodies out with the morning trash. The superintendent stored practically 50 dogs in picket crates within the building the place he labored.

Dog fighters in a Virginia case shared strategies of killing dogs that misplaced fights. One defendant in that case claimed he “loved” killing dogs.

Taylor stated she started to chip away on the downside whereas she continued to prosecute narcotics crimes. Her massive break got here final yr when she and Klein spearheaded the raid of a canine combating competitors often known as the Carolina Classic.

Men from throughout the East Coast flocked to a distant location in rural South Carolina for the occasion. With them, they introduced greater than a dozen dogs. Many of the animals had been tied up or kenneled throughout the property, howling and barking earlier than they entered the yard pit: A roughly 8-foot by 8-foot sq. with wooden panels that stored the dogs contained.

Dog house owners attending the occasion introduced an abundance of instruments of the commerce: weapons, ammunition, a membership with spikes, a break stick—which forces a canine to open its jaws as soon as a struggle is completed—and a trophy.

What they didn’t know was that certainly one of their compatriots was a authorities informant.

That allowed federal and state authorities to get inside info on the operation. Once the struggle was underway, brokers swooped in. Men fled on foot because the brokers descended on the scene, leaving two dogs within the ring combating each other.

That weekend, authorities seized greater than 300 dogs and arrested greater than 20 individuals—the biggest bust in state historical past.

Taylor and Klein didn’t cease there. In February, they had been concerned in a case by which 23 dogs, chained up within the chilly with out meals or water, had been rescued. Police additionally seized a bag containing two useless dogs, who the proprietor stated had not too long ago frozen to demise.

This previous September, Klein and Taylor performed certainly one of their greatest raids. In a single day, regulation enforcement executed 10 search warrants and seized some 120 dogs from suspected combating rings throughout the state, Klein stated.

“It’s horrible,” Taylor stated that morning, shaking her head. She stood on the sting of a property in rural South Carolina the place a suspected canine fighter lived and described what she had simply seen—practically 40 dogs dwelling in squalid circumstances. They had meals and water, however had been filthy, chained up and uncovered to the weather. Some had scars reducing throughout their heads, necks and legs.

Taylor and Klein say they’re motivated by their love for animals. They give attention to organized canine fighters—ones who use subtle coaching methods and keep a secure of dogs—as a result of they’re usually collaborating in interstate operations that violate animal abuse and playing legal guidelines.

Dog combating generates money in a number of methods. Handlers have been recognized to shell out $200,000 to enter a canine in a struggle. Spectators wager hundreds on a match, courtroom data present. A canine that wins can carry its proprietor further riches in semen, stud charges and puppies.

“It is huge business,” stated Maxwell, the professor who focuses on animal crime investigations. “It’s very, very lucrative for them.”

The money flows past the canine house owners: There are breeders who promote to canine fighters, transporters who drive the animals out of state for a struggle or who choose up dogs when they’re bought, and promoters who cost entry charges.

“It’s much broader than the individual who’s fighting the dog,” Klein stated. “My opinion, even a dollar is too much to be making money off of this.”

Many fighters are additionally engaged in other forms of crime. Federal authorities stumbled upon Eric Dean Smith’s canine combating operation within the mid-2010s as a result of they had been investigating him as a cocaine supplier and member of the Bloods avenue gang. Wiretaps revealed that Smith was promoting hundreds of {dollars}’ price of cocaine every week. In his conversations, Smith additionally revealed he was planning to promote a canine for $2,000. When federal brokers raided Smith’s property, they found medication, weapons, money and roughly 90 dogs.

Experts stated the follow transcends race and sophistication. Veterinary technicians, academics and highschool coaches have additionally been charged with these crimes.

“It’s everybody,” stated Robert Misseri, who runs the animal nonprofit Guardians of Rescue. “It’s way wider than people think it really is.”

On a sunny afternoon in New Jersey in November, a black and white pit bull rolled round within the grass, snarling and snapping at a sato named Ally. Their tails wagged, their tooth chomped on the air as a substitute of each other’s flesh, and there was no referee to declare a winner.

For the pit bull named Wish, it was an extended journey to play combating from the actual factor. Wish was certainly one of practically 90 dogs rescued in 2021 as a part of a dogfighting ring bust on Long Island. The canine obtained care at two restoration facilities run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)—one the organization says it makes use of for “cruelty recovery” and one other for behavioral rehabilitation.

Wish, who was adopted by a New Jersey couple who already owned two different dogs, now leads a comfortable existence. His journey stands in stark distinction with what many combating dogs endure.

Some spend their complete lives outdoor, tethered with a heavy chain to a automotive axle bolted to the bottom or in a cage, separated from different dogs. Dog fighters concern that if dogs are in a position to attain their yard mates, they’ll struggle each other.

One civil criticism described how a Florida canine fighter needed to euthanize a canine after one other canine broke her again and paralyzed her again legs in a “yard accident.”

When federal brokers seize the dogs, their faces will be swollen, their ears are sometimes mangled, and they’re regularly malnourished or dehydrated.

“It’s animal cruelty, plain and simple,” stated Jessica Aber, a US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, which has prosecuted animal crimes. “The way in which the dogs are bred and trained and living in inhumane conditions for the duration of their lives, only to be brought to a fight, wherein one of them has to die. It’s brutal, it’s barbaric, and it’s not something that we, as a society, should permit.”

Some of those dogs, specialists say, are too aggressive to rehabilitate. But others, like Wish, will be adopted.

The devastating toll of the blood sport is commonly laid naked on Dr. Martha Smith-Blackmore’s desk.

Three days earlier than the forensic veterinarian performs a autopsy examination on a maimed canine, the frozen animal is delivered by regulation enforcement to her Boston-area animal hospital in a black cadaver bag. She stows the canine, bag and all, in the one place that she will maintain the proof beneath lock and key: a blue kiddie pool atop an IKEA desk within the nook of her workplace.

Once thawed, she rolls the canine, strapped to a gurney, to her lab a number of flooring down. While she probes, she talks to the canine.

“I’ll tell them ‘You’re okay. This is your chance, you’re going to talk to me. You’re going to tell me what happened,’” Smith-Blackmore stated.

Smith-Blackmore takes tons of of images of her topic – its pores and skin, its mind, its thorax – and pays shut consideration to toxicology outcomes. Testosterone, cocaine or methamphetamine are sometimes proof of canine combating. As are deep puncture wounds on the underbelly and armpits. Lacerations usually cowl a combating canine’s entrance legs from the place an opponent sunk its tooth into the flesh, generally all the way in which to bone.

Once she’s finished, she writes a report and hopes that it’s sufficient to inform the canine’s story in courtroom.

“I really want people to be able to understand what the animal endured,” Smith-Blackmore stated. “Not just there was this wound, that wound and the other wound—but this is how much it hurt. This is how long it hurt.”

CNN’s Isabel Rosales, Casey Tolan, Scott Bronstein, Jade Gordon, Yahya Abou-Ghazala and Scott Glover contributed to this report.