 Dog-fighting
Green Bay, WI (US)Incident Date: Monday, Oct 18, 2004
County: Brown
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted
Charges: Felony CTA
Abuser/Suspect: Ngia Vang
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available |
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A 44-year-old Green Bay man faces charges he was arranging dog fights in the basement of his Broadway home. Ngia Vang faces two felony counts of instigating fights between animals. The charges stem from a case made by the Green Bay animal control officer in October.
Vang completed his initial appearance Wednesday (Feb 16, 2005) in Brown County Circuit Court and had a preliminary hearing set for March 10.
According to the complaint, Sharon Hensen, the city�s animal control officer, spotted a tarp-wrapped kennel behind a home in the 1200 block of South Broadway. Hensen said she saw Vang take a pit bull from the house and get it agitated in front of a dog in the covered kennel.
When Hensen talked with people in the home about the conditions in which the dogs were being kept, she found two dogs kept in the garage in unsanitary condition and without food or water, a complaint says. Hensen and police officers were invited to search the house and found evidence in the basement that led them to believe dog fights were being held there.
According to the complaint, Hensen found sticks used to pry dogs apart from one another during fights and harnesses and duct tape that Hensen said were used in training dogs to fight.
Officers also found sheets of drywall with blood on them. Hensen said the sheets could be used to create a makeshift pen or ring for dogs to fight or train. There was no evidence of a remodeling project inside the structure.
Vang�s lawyer, Mark Skvara, said Vang maintains his innocence, but Skvara declined further comment. He said he is still reviewing evidence and information in the case.
Dog-fighting court cases are rare, but evidence that fights are taking place in Green Bay is growing, Hensen said.
It�s happening �more often than I�d like to see,� Hensen said Wednesday.
Hensen said the Vang case is unique in that it has reached felony prosecution. Other cases have been investigated, but they have not led to charges. The law under which Vang was charged identifies the offenses a Class I felonies that carry up to a 3-and-a-half year prison term for each count. Case UpdatesNgia Vang was sentenced to three years of probation and 30 days in jail Friday for instigating dog fights in the basement of his South Broadway home in Green Bay.
Brown County Circuit Court Judge J.D. McKay also ordered Vang, 46, to pay $4,526 to the city of Green Bay for the cost of boarding three dogs confiscated from his home when the investigation began in November and $107 for court costs.
Vang was charged in November with two counts of instigating animal fights after police and Green Bay's animal control officer found evidence of dog fights in Vang's basement.
One of the felony counts was dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Vang had entered an Alford plea to the charges in April, which means he maintained his innocence but conceded there was enough evidence to secure a conviction.
In handing down the sentence Friday, McKay made comments that seemed directed as much to the animal rights activists sitting in the back of court as they were to Vang, who listened through a Hmong interpreter.
McKay said Vang came to the United States in 1994 when the Thai government, which had given him refuge, offered him the choice of returning to his native Laos or going to the United States.
"I suspect it was no choice at all," McKay said. "The reality of the situation is that it was a time when this country dealt with certain ethnic people and involved them in actions that ultimately led to their expulsion from their own country."
Though Vang came from a culture where activities like dog fighting are acceptable, McKay said, that is no excuse.
"There's always been and always will be a difficult transition from one culture to another, but the onus for making that transition is on the person who transfers from one culture to another," McKay said. "I don't think this society in any way can tolerate that kind of activity that went on here. There's no justification for this kind of activity.
"Mr. Vang found out that this activity is a crime and this society cannot tolerate it, and he does not have the choice to carry it on here."
Vang was charged after police and Green Bay's animal control officer found blood-spattered drywall, collars, duct tape and sticks used to pry dogs' mouths open in the basement of Vang's home in October 2004.
Vang's lawyer, Mark Skvara, said there was no evidence to indicate a sophisticated or large-scale dog-fighting operation, or that it was a profit-making venture.
McKay expressed concerns about ordering that restitution be paid, because Vang has nine children to support and earns low wages in his job as a butcher at a local meat-packing plant, but said the law requires the order. Vang speaks no English and had no formal education, making the prospect of community service an unworkable alternative, McKay said.
Vang originally faced a possibility of up to seven years in prison for the conviction, which still could lead to deportation proceedings if Vang is not a U.S. citizen, McKay said, adding that nothing in the record indicates whether Vang is a citizen.
Prior to the hearing, a group picketed outside the Brown County Courthouse promoting animal rights, and members of the group made up most of the audience during the hearing. Some could be heard expressing displeasure when Assistant District Attorney Amy Pautzke mentioned probation as the state's recommended sentence.
Vang's jail term begins Aug. 1 and will include work-release privileges. As a condition of probation, he is forbidden from owning animals for five years. | Source: Green Bay Press Gazette - July 1, 2006
Update posted on Jul 1, 2006 - 11:36AM |
A man accused of holding dog fights in his South Broadway home entered an Alford plea and was found guilty Friday of felony instigating fights between animals, scuttling a court trial set to begin that day.
In entering an Alford plea, Ngia Vang, 45, maintains his innocence but concedes there is enough evidence to garner a conviction.
He was charged in November with two counts of instigating animal fights after police and Green Bay's animal control officer found blood-spattered drywall, collars, duct tape and sticks used to pry dogs' mouths open in the basement of Vang's home. One of the counts against Vang was dismissed as part of a plea bargain, which also included prosecutors' recommendation for 3� years probation and a 30-day jail stint.
Vang's lawyer, Mark Skvara, said he plans to ask at the June 2 sentencing hearing for a 2-year probation term.
"We had conversations with the district attorney's office, took a look at all the evidence and based on what was offered to us � we decided to move forward," Skvara said. "The basis for the Alford plea was purely strategic on our part."
In laying out the specifics of the plea, Skvara said Vang was entering a plea to maintaining a place where animals fought, which refers to a specific section of the animal fighting statute.
Brown County Assistant District Attorney Tom Coaty said any connection to dog fighting is reprehensible.
"To use puppies as bait animals, to wager so dogs can fight and inflict pain for the pleasure of the spectators, is barbaric," Coaty said.
Skvara said Vang could face deportation in addition to probation and jail time.
"My client has nine kids and certainly has the status that he could be deported," Skvara said, noting that Vang is not a United States citizen.
As part of probation, prosecutors are asking that Vang not be allowed to have any dogs for five years and that the three dogs seized during this case would not be returned to him.
Coaty said prosecutors want Vang to pay restitution for the money spent to house Vang's pit bulls and for DNA testing conducted on blood found at the scene.
Animal Control Officer Sharon Hensen had blood samples from the basement analyzed and found that, in addition to blood from one of Vang's dogs, there were blood spatter contributions from a half-dozen other dogs.
"For there to be blood on the walls from five to seven dogs could only point to one thing," said Hensen, who spearheaded the Vang investigation, which began in July 2004.
Hensen was glad to hear the case had resolved with a conviction.
"It was a long time coming," she said. | Source: Green Bay Press Gazette - April 8, 2006
Update posted on Apr 9, 2006 - 8:28PM |
Attorney Mark Skavara on Tuesday asked that the felony charges against Ngia Vang be scheduled for a trial. Brown County Circuit Court Judge J.D. McKay set a three-day jury trial for Dec. 6. The 45-year-old Vang faces two felony counts of instigating fights between animals.
According to the criminal complaint, the Green Bay Police animal-control officer went to a South Broadway home Oct. 18 and saw Vang taunting a caged dog with a younger dog on a leash.
The animal-control officer, along with police officers, found two additional dogs � pit bulls � in the garage on short chains with no food or water and unsanitary conditions.
When officers entered the home to check for more dogs, they found what they believed were dogfight training tools, including sticks, harnesses and makeshift pens covered with blood spatter.
If convicted on both counts, Vang faces up to seven years in prison. He remains free on a signature bond and is expected back in court for a final pre-trial conference on Dec. 5. | Source: Green Bay Press Gazette - Aug 31, 2005
Update posted on Aug 31, 2005 - 8:41AM |
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