DOG FIGHTING IN TEXAS
When I was doing consumer investigations in Houston,
Texas, I went along with Harris Country Animal Control Constables on a
dogfight raid. My photographer and I were the only news media invited to
cover the raid.
The Harris County Animal Control Constables were
targeting a dogfight arena behind a home Northeast of Houston. The
deputy's informants told them that the fights were held on Saturday nights
in a small arena about 100 yards behind the home in some woods. There was
a wooded area of about two acres behind the four small homes on a gravel
street. The small frame house at the end of the street was where the arena
and dog practice area was located. Plus there were several fighting pit
bull dogs caged at the location.
The raid was set for about 10 p.m. on a Saturday night.
The dogfights attracted a crowd of about 25 people including some kids.
The pit bull dogs would fight to the death, or when the dog's owner called
off the fight. It is a bloody sport. There was gambling on the dogs. Bets
started at about $100 and went to $1,000. Admission appeared to be free to
both kids and adults. Some families brought food and drinks, as if it was
a picnic or a Bar-B-Q. The man who ran the dogfight arena had the beer
concession. We were told they had enough dogs to fight until at least two
a.m. It was the regular Saturday night family dogfights.
In Texas, as in California, and most other states dog
fighting is illegal. In Texas it's a felony to fight dogs, and it's
illegal to gamble on dogfights.
The dogfight raid was planned and diagramed earlier in
the afternoon at the Animal Control Headquarters. The plan was simple.
There were two raiding parties that would move in on the arena at the same
time. Raid Two would circle around the wooded area behind the property and
enter from the back. The deputies in Raid One, with the search warrant,
would come in from the street in front of the house. Both strike forces
would be in place about an hour after dark. The street would be left open
so as many gamblers as possible could come to the house for the dogfights.
There was an undercover deputy at the dogfights. He would radio the Task
Force when the fighting was underway, and it was a good time for the raid.
Since the dogfighters and gamblers carry weapons, all
the deputies were wearing raid jackets. They gave my photographer and I
each a Bullet- proof raid jacket to wear. I carried the large battery
light and the photographer carried the camera gear.
We arrived at a store parking lot about a mile from the
dogfight house just before dark. We waited there until the undercover
deputy at the dogfight called us on the radio. He had to go to the outdoor
toilet to be able to talk to us on the radio. He called about 45 minutes
later and told us the arena area was full and we could move into place. We
looked like a nighttime funeral procession, as about 10 vehicles headed
for the house. When we got close to the street where the house is located,
we had to turn off our headlights. There were not a lot of streetlights in
this partially rural area, and it was extremely difficult driving in
almost total darkness.
Raid One waited at the beginning of the street
where the house is located, and Raid Two went around the woods behind the
house and arena. There were four cars driving through the woods without
headlights. But each time a driver would touch the breaks the red
taillights on the cars would come on. It was a strange sight; it looked
like large red fire flies moving through the woods behind the house. The
deputy in charge radioed the deputies to not use the break lights. But
they had no choice because it was pitch black in the woods and they were
following the leader on a small dirt road. But apparently the dogfighters
never saw the red break lights. Finally, both raid forces were in place.
The street was blocked off and no other dogfight fans could enter the
property. We waited again for the radio call from the undercover deputy.
It was just about 10 p.m., when the call came that a major fight had just
started and the raid should begin.
The command over the deputies' radio was simple, "GO RAID NOW". Raid One, with the search warrant drove right
up in front of the house. My photographer and I were with this group.
Deputies started running up the drive way to the back of the house where
the arena was. It was very dark, and I ran smack into a drunken fan, which
was apparently trying to relieve himself. I was lucky; his stream of used
beer missed me. The deputies began yelling, "shine your light
McIlvain, shine your light, we can't see where we are going," I
snapped on the big batter camera light and everyone started scattering. My
photographer and I headed straight to the arena because I needed video of
the dogfight in progress. When we arrived at the arena, which was
three-foot high wall around an oval shaped pit area, the undercover agent
had already handcuffed one of the dogfight promoters. But the dogfight
continued.
When the deputies demanded they stop the pit bull dogs from fighting,
the owners could not get the dogs apart. The fight continued. One dog had
a solid grip with his jaw around the neck of the other pit bull. Both dogs
were bleeding. But pit bull dogs are trained not to release their jaws until
the other dog is dead. The dog owners took a large wooden pole and pried the
jaws of the one dog open enough to get the other dog out. The dogs were a bloody mess.
Later both dogs had to be destroyed.
The dog owners and the gamblers were arrested and taken
to jail where they were booked on dog fighting and gambling charges. Most
made bail that night.
I was totally surprised at the families that brought
young children to these bloody dogfights. I interviewed a mother and
father about why their kids were here. They told me that it was just
something to do on Saturday night and they didn't see anything wrong with
dog fighting. One mother had brought a picnic lunch for the family.
I guess you could say it was, "pass the catchup, while the dogs
bleed."
It turned out to be a great exclusive TV story. After we
showed it on the Sunday night news, it was the big story on Monday on the
other TV stations. They had a picture of the dogs fighting. The other
stations said it came from one of the people at the dogfight. I know
exactly where they got it, it was freeze-frame from our video, and they
stole it from us. But, that's the TV news game.
By the way this did not shut down dog fighting in and
around Houston, Texas. My Texas Law Enforcement sources tell me that it's
still a Saturday night sport, and beer bust.
Dog Fight Training
These pit bull dogs like most fighting dogs were trained in a small backyard oval
pit area about 6-feet in diameter and 8-foot long.
The trainer would hang a stuffed animal from a rope above the pit and coach the dog
to attack it. The trainer would tie meat around the stuffed animal to get the dog
to attack it to get the meat. The dogs are starved for a day or so the meat tied to
the stuffed animal is not really an attack at first but a matter of getting something
to eat.
After the dog is trained to get the meat tired to the stuffed animal the trainer
will replace the stuffed animal with a live rabbit. The detectives said this was
so the dogs would get the taste of blood when they attacked the live animal.�
After several weeks the pit bull will be starved again and then put in the pit with
a smaller live dog that will run and try to fight back. The pit bull will always kill
the smaller dog. After this training the owner has a true killer pit bull dog. He is
ready for a fight with another pit bull.
Remember pit bull fighting is a gambling event. Most fighting pit bull dog
owners are not dog aficionados but gamblers. There are normally one or more
veterinarians associated with the dog fighting. The one at the fight the cops
raided said he did not favor pit bull dog fighting but he was there to give medical
aid to the dogs and help patch them up for the next fight. The biggest gambling
match is when they fight to the death of one of the dogs.�
Note: dog fighting in Texas�is a felony but that has not stopped dog fighting in the state.� �
Also I have been contacted by Los Angeles, Ca. residents, �who say that in their West Hills,
neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley there are training facilities for Pit bull dogs.�
Update filed: July 20,2007 |
