In Columbia, South Carolina, 60 federal and state law enforcement officers and rescue organizations assisted what is believed to have been a takedown of the largest suspected dogfighting network in the state’s history. At the end of the day, state and federal agents had rescued 275 dogs.
Most of the dogs were found tied with heavy chains around their necks suffering from severe injuries consistent with being forced to fight.
According to a press release from the South Carolina Department of Justice, officials had launched a sting on Saturday interrupting a scheduled dog fight and rescued 14 dogs. On Sunday, officers had been deployed to other sites; the officers had executed 23 search warrants at various residences and properties in Richland, York, Orangeburg, Clarendon, Lee, and Sumter Counties that were known dogfighting kennels or associated with dogfighting.
Over the weekend, 305 dogs were rescued and 275 of them are believed to have been associated with dogfighting. Both the Humane Society of the United States and Bark Nation assisted with the rescue of the dogs and are currently caring for the animals. In addition to rescuing the dogs, 20 individuals were arrested and charged with animal cruelty and dogfighting, 30 firearms were seized, $40,000 in cash recovered and various evidence collected relating to dogfighting.
The Humane Society of the United States rescue team were present at three of the sites and helped to remove the dogs. Rescuers reported nursing mother dogs in wire hutches with no access to food or water, dogs on heavy chains, dogs injured and other ones not treated for their injuries. One young dog presented with a broken leg with puncture wounds, Another dog had been tied to a heavy chain with a deeply infected wound on his chest.
A thin dog wagged her tail and pulled against the end of her chain to get closer to the rescuers, seemingly desperate for attention and affection from responders. When a member of our rescue team kneeled next to her, the dog nuzzled her head against the rescuer’s legs.
One curious nursing mother peered from her hutch, as her babies sat in empty food bowls, likely a desperate attempt to avoid having to stand endlessly on the harsh wire floor of the hutch, which was also soiled with feces.
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This joint operation had been months in the making, and the dogs are finally getting the help and rescue efforts they deserve.
The Animal Welfare Act makes it a felony punishable by up to five years in federal prison to fight dogs or to possess, train, sell, buy, deliver, receive, or transport dogs intended for use in dogfighting.
Updates to follow.
(Photos via HSUS Meredith Lee)
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