Animal Abuse: Major dog-fighting ring busted - Raisinville Township, MI

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Case ID: 17527

Classification: Fighting

Animal: dog (non pit-bull), dog (pit-bull)

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Attorneys/Judges

Prosecutor(s):	Jack Simms, Jr.
Judge(s):	Mark Braunlich, Michael W. LaBeau

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Major dog-fighting ring busted
Raisinville Township, MI (US)

Incident Date: Sunday, Mar 6, 2011
County: Monroe

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged:
» James Patrick Broome
» Willie James Fletcher
» Martin James Anderson
» Charles Edward Applewhite
» Delano Lavay Applewhite
» Donald James Broome
» William Reed Buchanan
» Alvin Detreich Buckley
» Corey Stevens Clark
» Shawn Lamont Colston
» Angelic Krueaunsha Dean
» Henry Lee Douglas
» Arden Bruce Dusz
» Kevin Forbes - Convicted
» Robert G, French
» Richard Ngai Godbold
» Anthony Deshawn Hardy
» Chad Eric Hassebrock
» Isaac Virgil Hyser
» Jimmy Eon Laster
» Scottie Leondrae Lawson
» Victor Jemell Simms
» Danyelle Lorenza Stuckey
» Eddie Maurice Webb
» Quitman Deon Williams
» Terry Allen Wurster
» Russell Alvin Huff

Case Updates: 8 update(s) available

Authorities in Michigan busted a major dogfighting ring in an early-morning raid Sunday, seizing guns, drugs, cash and dogs from a garage in a rural town about 45 miles south of Detroit.

Monroe County police said that dozens of suspects were holding an actual dogfight at a home in Raisinville Township when sheriff's deputies staged the raid at about 1:35 a.m.

At least 10 people were detained at the two-car garage, and cops used K-9 search teams to track down eight others who fled the scene, according to the Toledo Blade.

Investigators also rescued five dogs from the garage, including two that were badly hurt.

Meanwhile, the dogs seized at the property are being held at Monroe County Animal Control. Director Linda Benson said the two badly injured pit bulls died Sunday.

"One died on the way here," she said this morning. "The other died peacefully here. He just kind of laid down and died."

"It was brutal," Detective Sgt. Heath Velliquette of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office told The Monroe Evening News. "There was blood everywhere."

In addition to the dogs, police seized more than $40,000 in cash, a large stash of cocaine and marijuana, at least one handgun and training equipment - including a dog treadmill and a fighting ring, the Blade reported.

On Sunday afternoon, volunteers from the Monroe Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said they visited the house and found four other dogs -- including one pit bull puppy -- that could have been involved in the alleged ring.

Among the dogs taken from the property were puppy pit bulls, an English bulldog and a small Pomeranian. Four of the pit bulls were found Sunday afternoon in a small wooded area on the property. Animal Control Officer David Grow said the four were chained to dog houses.

Trina Stillwagon, the society's founder, said the dogs were found in some woods behind the house.

"They are so hungry they are eating dirt," she told the Blade. "They would have starved to death if they were left out here tonight."

Authorities were acting on a tip from the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector general's office, which investigates dogfighting operations across the country.

The ring appears to have crossed state lines, as the suspects were from Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Missouri and Michigan.

Monroe County prosecutor William Paul Nichols told the Blade that "by far, this certainly would be the biggest" dogfighting operation discovered in the county in recent memory.

Neighbors said they had heard dogs on the property but didn't know about the brutal and illegal ring.

"We've heard dogs yelling and yipping, so I just figured they had a bunch of dogs over there," Robert Pine, a neighbor, told Detroit's WJBK-TV.

The suspects face several charges of dogfighting, a felony in Michigan that carries a four-year prison term and a $50,000 fine.

Anyone with information on the dog fighting ring is asked to call the Monroe County Sheriff's Office at 734-240-7530.

Case Updates

Monroe County Circuit Judge Joseph A. Costello Jr. overturned a decision to euthanize three dogs involved in an alleged dog-fighting operation.

On Thursday, Judge Costello overturned First District Judge Jack Vitale's decision to euthanize the pit bulls. He cited that the dogs do not pose a threat to public safety.

The three dogs - Dusty, Reilly and Monroe - will remain in the custody of Monroe County at Monroe County Animal Control until the court decides on a permanent home for the dogs.

The dogs were seized during a March raid on a suspected dog-fighting operation on Ida-Maybee Rd.

Earlier, the district court determined the dogs were too dangerous to the community and should be euthanized. At that time, members of (MSPCA) filed an appeal.

Trina Stillwagon, president of MSPCA, is pleased with Judge Costello's decision.

"He clearly spent a great amount of time looking into this case and had a great sense of what this case was all about. He made his decision based on fact and law," she said. "The law was applied and applied correctly. This is a big victory for dogs throughout Michigan who are victims of cruelty."

The Buster Foundation is seeking custody.

"We hope to take custody very soon because they have been locked up in cages since June 27," she said. "If we get custody, we will re-assess their needs, have them examined by a veterinarian and proceed from there."

A court date on the custody of the dogs has not been set.

Source: monroenews.com - Oct 21, 2011
Update posted on Oct 21, 2011 - 7:20PM

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There's a hearing Wednesday morning in Monroe County Circuit Court in a
Dixon claims there was a gash on Reilly's leg.

"It clearly went all the way to the bone … It looks like a knife wound," Dixon said. "They have no explanation for any of Reilly's wounds whatsoever."

The three groups claim the dogs were not injured and were not fighting dogs when they were taken in to the shelter. They claim their injuries were suffered there. Dixon said the dogs are not getting proper veterinary care.

View video of the dogs at this link after their injuries while in the care of Monroe County Animal Shelterat this link.

Assistant County prosecutor Jack Simms denies the dogs are being abused at the shelter. He said there's a vet on staff and that the shelter is subject to yearly state inspections.

The prosecutor's office argues that the dogs are too dangerous to be released.

Click on a dogs' names below and scroll down to watch videos showing their behavioral assessment:

Source: cbslocal.com - Sep 21, 2011
Update posted on Sep 21, 2011 - 9:40PM

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A Monroe County judge Thursday declined to hold a hearing on a prosecutor's request to have two animal-rescue groups held in contempt of court for posting photos and videos on Web sites of "pit bulls" seized in March from a Raisinville Township home.

Assistant Prosecutor Michael Brown sought the hearing before District Judge Jack Vitale against the .

The request for the contempt hearing stemmed from a gag order placed on the two groups May 4 in a civil complaint filed against the occupants of the Ida Maybee Road home where authorities broke up a championship fight between two prizefighting dogs.

Judge John Collins had allowed the Monroe society and Buster Foundation to take pictures and make video recordings of the four dogs, but barred them from publicly releasing the information until the case had been decided.

After hearing testimony from an animal behaviorist who evaluated the animals, Judge Vitale issued a verbal ruling July 13 that allowed the sheriff's office to destroy three of the dogs. The written order, which found that the animals were a threat to public safety and lack any useful purpose, was filed last week with the court.

In his arguments Thursday to Judge Vitale for the contempt hearing, Mr. Brown maintained that the groups were still under Judge Collins' gag order because they have until Aug. 15 to appeal the decision.

However, Judge Vitale dismissed the prosecutor's request, saying that Judge Collins' gag order wasn't entirely clear and the groups could have reasonably concluded that his order expired July 13 when the case was decided.

Trina Stillwagon, Monroe SPCA president, said after the hearing that she and volunteers of the groups did nothing wrong.

"We did comply with those orders. As much as we disagree with being placed under the gag order, we worked through channels and waited for due process," she said. "There has been just widespread lack of transparency from the prosecutor's office. I think that is why they brought us in here with this motion."

The videos posted on the Internet include excerpts of veterinarian Katherine Houpt assessing the "pit bulls" at the local Animal Control center. Dr. Houpt, who is professor emeritus of behavior medicine at Cornell University, was the prosecution's expert witness.

In the recordings, the animals appear passive and nonthreatening during the veterinarian's evaluation process. Other video postings on the Source: toledoblade.com - Aug 5, 2011
Update posted on Aug 5, 2011 - 2:34PM

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Animal rights activists are in an uproar over a Monroe County judge's order to euthanize three "pit bulls" seized from an alleged dog fighting operation in March.

Monroe County District Court Judge Jack Vitale ordered the dogs killed earlier this week following a four-month long civil dispute over the animals' fate. The case pitted county prosecutors, who argued for euthanasia, against two animal rescue organizations, the Buster Foundation and the Monroe Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who urged that the "pit bulls" be saved.

But after hearing testimony from an animal behaviorist who assessed the "pit bulls," Judge Vitale concluded that dogs Monroe, Reilly and Dusty constituted a threat to public safety and should be put down. He awarded custody of a fourth "pit bull," Razzle, to the Buster Foundation. The ruling does not take effect for two more weeks and the animal groups have vowed to appeal.

Meanwhile, close to two-dozen representatives from the Monroe SPCA, the Buster Foundation and other area rescue groups protested Thursday at the corner of St. Mary's park in downtown Monroe. The activists held up signs reading "Punish the People not the dogs" and "Stop the Murder" and said they intend to keep up pressure on authorities until the euthanasia ruling is overturned.

"It's just not fair these guys are going to get sentenced to death for something they didn't do," said Christina Faulk who volunteers for Last Day Dog Rescue in Livonia. "They're a victim of circumstance."

The dogs were seized by state and local authorities after they raided the alleged dog fighting ring at a home on Ida Maybee Road in Raisinville Township on March 6. Police described it as one of the largest dog-fighting operations in the county's history. Since then, 27 people have been charged in the case and several are awaiting sentencing.

The decision to euthanize the three "pit bulls" was largely influenced by behavior evaluations conducted by veterinarian Katherine Houpt, Professor Emeritus of Behavior Medicine at Cornell University. Ms. Houpt concluded that the "pit bulls," now in the care of Monroe County Animal Control, have the potential to harm other animals and children if released into the public.

But Monroe SPCA president and general manager Trina Stillwagon, along with other activists at the protest Thursday, said they dispute those findings. Ms. Stillwagon, who took care of the dogs along with the Buster Foundation for more than a month until they were removed to the Animal Control shelter, said the organizations had conducted their own evaluations of the animals and believe they are not dangerous. The SPCA president accused Ms. Houpt of mishandling the dogs during the temperament tests and of failing them unfairly. She said the "pit bulls" should be handed over to her organization so they can be put up for adoption.

"Not only are these not aggressive dogs, these are truly the most responsive, people pleasing dogs I've ever met," Ms. Stillwagon said. "They are dogs that define what we look for in adoptable dogs."

Assistant prosecutor Michael Brown scoffed at Ms. Stillwagon's criticism of Ms. Houpt.

"She is a retired professor from Cornell University, one of the top animal behaviorists in the country ... what qualifications do these people have to criticize her evaluation?" Mr. Brown said. "It's the position of the county that we cannot risk that a child would be injured in the future by these dogs. Judge Vitale heard all the evidence and found that Dr. Houpt's testimony was persuasive."

Monroe County Animal Control Director Linda Benson said she agrees that the three "pit bulls" are aggressive and should be euthanized. She faulted the Monroe SPCA and Buster Foundation for showing concern for those dogs while other, more adoptable "pit bulls" languish at the county shelter.

"These people have never been in here to adopt any dogs. The only dogs they're interested in are (Monroe, Reilly and Dusty) for some reason," Ms. Benson said. "We have a wonderful 'pit bull' here that's been here since June ... They haven't been in here about that dog."

Ms. Benson maintained the shelter euthanizes dogs based on behavior, not breed.

Ms. Stillwagon said she and other protesters plan to attend the Monroe County commissioners' meeting next week to garner support for their cause.

Update posted on Aug 1, 2011 - 5:53PM

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It was a championship match -- a dogfight with a purse of $20,000.

Sid Vicious vs. Maximum Punishment.

Those pit bulls are believed to be connected to two well-established Michigan-based dogfighting groups -- Loose Cannon Boys and City Slick Kennels, respectively -- known for raising pit bulls with impressive bloodlines.

After relocating from Ohio to Wayne County to Washtenaw County, the fight found a home in Monroe County, and the pit bulls got a stage: a carpeted ring, surrounded by wooden boards, in a Raisinville Township garage.

But law enforcement officials were onto the match.

New details of the dogfight held earlier this month, which led to felony charges against 27 people, emerged through police reports obtained by the Free Press, interviews with law enforcement and Humane Society of the United States officials, and court testimony given Friday by a special agent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of the Inspector General during the preliminary exam for Sid's suspected handler, Willie Fletcher.

The agent testified that Fletcher, who was ordered to stand trial in Monroe County Circuit Court on charges that he attended and participated in the fight, told agents Sid won.

But in the end, both dogs lost something: their lives.

The dogfight had broken up.

A trail of blood led from the garage, where a fighting pit made of carpet and wooden boards was set up, to the basement. There, two pit bulls lay dying in a laundry room.

People stood outside and vehicles idled in the driveway as law enforcement officers descended on the Raisinville Township home in the early morning hours of March 6.

Jeffery Nickols, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General, recounted the raid during the preliminary exam Friday for Willie Fletcher. Fletcher is one of 27 people charged in connection with the fight and was a target of a lengthy investigation by federal agents.

Fletcher, 31, of Detroit was bound over for trial in Monroe County Circuit Court on charges that he attended and participated in the fight. He will be arraigned March 25.

Fletcher is accused of being a handler during the fight for a pit bull named Sid Vicious and is believed to be connected to a well-established metro Detroit dogfighting group called the Loose Cannon Boys.

Others charged in the case have waived their rights to preliminary exams within 14 days of their arraignments. They'll appear in court next month for pre-exam conferences.

Nickols testified that agents followed Fletcher that night from his Detroit home to the house on Ida Maybee in Raisinville Township, where the dogfight was held. Agents had been conducting surveillance on Fletcher since last year, Nickols said.

After obtaining a search warrant, agents and law enforcement officers from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and Michigan State Police raided the home. Some people scattered, running across fields, while others were corralled into the living room.

Fletcher was found in the basement. So was James Broome -- a 31-year-old Belleville man suspected of being tied to the opposing dog, Maximum Punishment. That pit bull was connected with City Slick Kennels, according to police reports.

Broome's name, he said, was on a receipt in a bag containing medical supplies, including a surgical staple gun, intravenous bag and tubing kit, and a syringe.

Chief Assistant Monroe County Prosecutor Jack Simms Jr. would not confirm after the hearing whether Broome was a handler. But Nickols testified that dog handlers -- who are in the pit with the dogs, along with a referee -- often carry medical kits.

The two pit bulls in the fight later died from their injuries.

Janette Reever, deputy manager of animal fighting investigations for the Humane Society of the United States, said the bust was significant. Reever said the two groups suspected of being involved are well-established and are known for having pit bulls with impressive bloodlines.

"It was a definite hit to the dogfighting community," she said.

Experts say dogfighting is a subversive enterprise driven by money, drugs and violence. Reever said there are an estimated 40,000 professional dogfighters, including individuals and established kennels, across the country.

Purses for matches can reach $250,000 in professional fights, where dogs that are bred and trained to be champions attack each other in a bloody fashion.

"They are breeding for agility; they're breeding for the gameness of the dog," she said.

The USDA's Office of the Inspector General is leading the investigation into the Raisinville Township case. According to a police report obtained by the Free Press, a confidential informant provided information on the planned dogfight. A spokesman for the office would not confirm that or discuss the case.

Paul Feeney, deputy counsel for the USDA office, said animal fighting became a federal felony in May 2007 with the enactment of an animal fighting prohibition act. Since the beginning of the current fiscal year in October, the office has tallied 117 animal fighting convictions -- the same total for the entire previous fiscal year. Feeney attributed the rise in convictions to a case that stems from the previous fiscal year and resulted in a number of arrests.

The Monroe County case isn't the only high-profile dogfighting crime in southeast Michigan in recent months. Two of three men killed in Detroit in January were suspected of being involved with pit bulls and dogfighting, officials have said.

And several of the men involved in the Monroe County case have previously been charged with dogfighting.

Three men, including Fletcher, were on probation to Wayne County Circuit Judge Gregory Bill for dogfighting convictions when they were charged in this case, an official for the judge said.

In addition, Charles Applewhite -- a 37-year-old Detroiter who Nickols testified is the suspected owner of Sid Vicious -- recently completed his probation, the official said.

Along with the dogs, dog training equipment, multiple ounces of cocaine and marijuana, and $40,000 were seized from the Raisinville Township home, police said.

Source: Detroit Free Press - Mar 18, 2011
Update posted on Mar 22, 2011 - 6:14PM

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A second Belleville man has been arrested and charged with attending and participating in a dogfight in Raisinville Township last week.

The arrest of Russell A. Huff, 28, of Belleville, brings the total number arrested in the raid on the home off Ida Maybee Road in Monroe County to 27. Huff remains in the Monroe County Jail in lieu of a $50,000 cash or surety bond set by the judge at the First District Court.

James Broome, also from Belleville, faces the same charges in the incident. His bond was set by the Monroe Court at $25,000, cash or surety. If convicted, each faces four years in prison.

Police say that spectators paid a cover charge of between $25 and $50 to attend dogfights staged in the garage of the rented home. The raid was prompted by an anonymous tip.

Source: journalgroup.com - Mar 17, 2011
Update posted on Mar 17, 2011 - 11:21PM

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Today, the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office authorized felony charges against an additional 24 individuals for their alleged involvement in either attending or directly participating in an organized dog-fighting event held at a Raisinville Township residence in Monroe County, Michigan over the weekend.

Nine dogs were taken from the home Sunday. Seven of them were pit bulls, officials said. The two dogs involved in the fight -- believed to have belonged to Fletcher and Broome �" died. Another dead pit bull was found deep in the rear of the property by a tree line, where neighbors said those living in the home kept some of the dogs chained up.

Lawyers, families, deputies and bail bondsmen were in the courtroom packing three rows of seating available in front of Judge Mark Braunlich.

Several family members declined to talk. A woman at Fletcher's home, reached by phone, also said she did not want to comment.

Seymour Schwartz, a Berkley-based lawyer representing two men facing charges, said today his clients are friends and are from Hillsdale and Indiana.

Schwartz said his clients didn't know there was going to be a dog fight, and he didn't know how they ended up at the home.

"They were there eating chicken wings," Schwartz said. "They just figured they were going to a party."

Arraignments for 24 people accused of attending a dogfight in Monroe County began today in Monroe's 1st District Court.

The following were charged with Attending an Organized Dog-Fighting Event, a felony offense carrying up to a maximum of 4 years in prison, a fine of not less than $1,000 or more than $5,000 and not less than 250 or more than 500 hours of community service:

* Martin Anderson, 30, Indianapolis, Indiana
* Charles Applewhite, 37, Detroit, Michigan
* Delano Applewhite, 28, Detroit, Michigan
* Donald Broome, 52, Allen Park, Michigan
* William Buchanan, 27, Ft. Wayne, Indiana
* Alvin Buckley, 43, Detroit, Michigan
* Corey Clark, 33, Lincoln Park, Michigan
* Shawn Colston, 38, Detroit, Michigan
* Angelic Dean, 26, Georgia
* Henry Douglas, 28, Ypsilanti, Michigan
* Arden Dusz, 23, New Boston, Michigan
* Kevin Forbes, 45, Detroit, Michigan
* Robert French, 34, Ft. Wayne, Indiana
* Richard Godbold, 39, Georgia
* Anthony Hardy, 37, Detroit, Michigan
* Chad Hassebrock, 33, Freemont, Indiana
* Isaac Hyser, 34, Ft. Wayne, Indiana
* Jimmy Laster, 31, Ypsilanti, Michigan
* Scottie Lawson, 43, Pontiac, Michigan
* Victor Simms, 33, Cincinnati, Ohio
* Danyelle Stuckey, 34, Ft. Wayne, Indiana
* Eddie Webb, 36, Detroit, Michigan
* Quitman Williams, 32, Highland Park, Michigan
* Terry Wurster, 55, Hillsdale, Michigan

Several were given bonds with the option of posting 10% to be released. Buchanan, who has a prior drug conviction, was given a $15,000 cash or surety bond.

Kevin Forbes was also charged with a second felony offense for allegedly Participating in an Organized Dog-Fighting Event which carries up to a maximum of 4 years in prison, a fine of not less than $5,000 or more than $50,000 and not less than 500 or more than 1,000 hours of community service.

Bond for Forbes, who is currently on parole for a home invasion out of Wayne County, was set at $100,000. County Prosecutor William Nichols said several of the defendants already have convictions in Michigan for attending a dog fight and were on probation at the time.

Yesterday, Willie Fletcher, 31, Detroit, Michigan and James Broome, 31, Belleville, Michigan were also charged and arraigned on these two separate felony offenses.

They remain in the Monroe County jail after court appearances on Monday. Donald Broome is James Broome's father.

Each has been scheduled for a Pretrial Conference at 2 p.m. on March 10 and a Preliminary Examination at 9 a.m. on March 17.

Source: abclocal.go.com - Mar 8, 2011
Update posted on Mar 8, 2011 - 10:17PM

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The woman who rents Jerry Bugg's pale yellow, two-story house on Ida-Maybee Road had left for the weekend with the understanding that her boyfriend was going to host a bachelor party for his friends.

Instead of beer, poker, and stag movies, authorities busted up a bloody duel between two champion fighting dogs in the Raisinville Township residence. Mr. Bugg, a former auto worker who fled Michigan five years after losing his job, later learned about the raid from a former neighbor's phone call.

Mr. Bugg, who now lives in Cincinnati, said reports that dogs were fighting to their death for money inside his garage left he and his wife, Barbara, feeling sick.

"I am ... shaken by all of this," he said. "My wife and I are sick. We are just devastated."

Willie Fletcher, 32, of Detroit, and James Broome, 32, of Belleville, Mich., who authorities have identified as the owners of dogs in the championship bout, were arraigned Monday in Monroe County District Court.

They and 24 others were arrested after federal agents, state police, and deputies descended on the house 2 miles north of Ida about 1:30 a.m. Sunday after getting tipped off that it was hosting a high-stakes fight.

Fletcher and Mr. Broome are each charged with one count of participating in dogfighting and attending a dog fight, felonies that carry four-year jail sentences.

Fletcher, who prosecutors say has a previous conviction for dogfighting, was ordered held in the county jail in lieu of $125,000 bond by Judge Mark Braunlich, of Monroe County District Court. Mr. Broome was ordered held in the jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.

The others arrested in connection with the raid are scheduled to appear Tuesday in District Court for arraignments. Sheriff's detectives said they are from Missouri, Indiana, Georgia, and Ohio. They are being held in the county jail without bond.

Jack Simms, chief assistant prosecutor, argued to Judge Braunlich that the "vicious, brutal, and callous" acts that allegedly occurred at the house justify the high bonds.

At the arraignment, Mr. Broome, a security guard, denied that he raised dogs for fighting. He told the judge he needed to stay out of jail to keep his job so that he could support his wife and three sons.

"I have never been in trouble before," he pleaded. "I really don't want to lose my job."

The animals allegedly owned by Fletcher and Mr. Broome were among five dogs taken from the home early Sunday.

Linda Benson, director of the sheriff's animal control unit, said one dog died in transit to the shelter and the other animal died shortly after it arrived.

Animal control officers went back to the residence about 6 p.m. Sunday when they took five more dogs that investigators apparently didn't find during the search earlier of the 6 1/2-acre property.

Officer Benson said healed scars from battles were visible on several dogs, but all of the remaining animals appear to be healthy.

"They are a little thin," she said. "They are not in any danger of dying."

Mr. Bugg, 58, said he and his wife each received texts messages Sunday from the tenant, Pamela Cole, 44, a single mother of two teenage daughters. He said she apologized for what happened and had given permission to her boyfriend to host a bachelor party at her home.

He said she told him in the text messages that she had left the Monroe area for the weekend.

The Coles have lived in the house since about September, 2009, the owner said.

Mr. Bugg said that Ms. Cole has two pets �" an English bulldog and a Pomeranian �" and that when he visited the home six or eight months ago, the boyfriend had a dog tied up outside the home. He could not recall the man's name.

"She and her daughters seems so nice. To me, it just seems so out of character for them. It is so unbelievable," Mr. Bugg said.

Ms. Cole said in text messages that she was too ill to respond to a reporters' questions about the incident.

After getting losing his job at a Ford Motor Co. plant in Ypsilanti, Mr. Bugg said he relocated for several years near Knoxville, Tenn., and later to Cincinnati.

Sheriff's Detective Heath Velliquette said the dogs were fighting in a ring in the attached garage when deputies, Michigan State Police, and U.S. Department of Agriculture agents entered.

Eighteen suspects were kept in the house with eight others fleeing the property. Investigators rounded up the fugitives with the assistance of the sheriff's office K-9 Team, Detective Velliquette said.

The ensuing investigation produced more than $40,000 in cash, large quantities of cocaine and marijuana, a handgun that officers said was in possession of one of the suspects, as well as the fighting ring used to stage the dog fight and a dog-training treadmill.

Source: toledoblade.com - Mar 7, 2011
Update posted on Mar 7, 2011 - 11:22PM

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References

- Mar 7 2011

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Major dog-fighting ring bustedRaisinville Township, MI (US)

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Major dog-fighting ring busted
Raisinville Township, MI (US)