Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Susanna Martinez |
Dog-fighting - 12 dogs, 7 puppies seized
Anthony, NM (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Dec 6, 2007
County: Dona Ana
Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Gustavo Solis
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
An anonymous tip led authorities to a home in Anthony, N.M., where the homeowner was arrested and charged with dog fighting.
According to court documents, Gustavo Solis admitted that he bought training equipment with the intention to get into dog fighting, but said he never has. He also admitted to recently attending a cockfight in Chaparral, where he lost $20, according to court documents.
Solis, 45, was being held at the Doņa Ana County Detention Center, facing one count each of dog fighting and extreme cruelty to animals, both felonies. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.
Curtis Childress, director of animal control for the Doņa Ana Sheriff's Department, said deputies and animal control officers served a search warrant on December 6th at a home in the 2300 block of Venadito Trail.
Officers seized about a dozen adult pit bulls some restrained with heavy chains and seven pit bull puppies. Some showed signs of dog fighting, Childress said.
"Some of them appear to be in fairly good condition," Childress said. "There were other dogs that had scarring on them. We had dogs that were malnourished and dehydrated. One dog in particular has a broken leg."
According to records, a spring pole, which increases a dog's jaw strength, and treadmills that can be used to train dogs for fighting were also found.
Other items found on the property were dog medication, syringes, needles for stitching, and cockfighting paraphernalia.
On the property was a plywood shed with apparent blood stains on the floor, according to records. Childress said the building was believed to be used for dog fights.
Records state Solis admitted to using metal "break away sticks," which are used to separate dogs involved in a fight. He said he only used the sticks whenever a dog got loose and attacked another dog.
Childress added that Solis has voluntarily given up the dogs' ownership rights.
The pit bulls will be evaluated for adoptability, Childress said. Those that are adoptable will be sent to a Humane Society shelter in Albuquerque.
Case UpdatesAn Anthony man has been convicted of dogfighting and extreme cruelty to animals after pleading no contest to the felony charges in district court.
Heather Ferguson, coordinator for the New Mexico Attorney General's Animal Cruelty Task Force, says it's the first dogfighting conviction in the state since the law prohibiting dogfighting was enacted in 1981.
Gustavo Solis, who has been fighting dogs since the 1980s, entered no contest pleas to dogfighting, extreme cruelty to animals, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and two misdemeanor courts of animal cruelty.
District Attorney Susanna Martinez says Solis faces up to 5.5 years in prison.
Ferguson says Solis ran a dogfighting and breeding operation, had paraphernalia for cockfighting on his property and was teaching dogfighting to his juvenile son. | Source: KDBC - Jan 15, 2009
Update posted on Jan 16, 2009 - 1:15AM |
| Gustavo Solis, 45, 2300 Venadito Trail, Anthony, is charged with dog fighting, conspiracy to commit dog fighting, extreme cruelty to animals, cruelty to animals and contributing to the delinquency of a minor between December 6, 2004 and December 6, 2007. He was formally indicted by the 3rd Judicial District Court grand jury on January 10, 2008. Solis appeared in court last on February 11, and a trial date is pending. | Source: Las Cruces Sun-News - Jan 14, 2008
Update posted on Feb 12, 2008 - 8:19PM |
References
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