Case Details
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Case ID: 4716
Classification: Fighting
Animal: dog (pit-bull)
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Dog-fighting - 37 dogs sized
Shreveport, LA (US)

Incident Date: Saturday, Mar 26, 2005
County: Caddo

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Michael Allen Tucker

Authorities have identified another suspect and may come up with more in connection with raids last week on an illegal dogfighting facility in west Shreveport, a state police spokesman said.

"I can say that we are going to get a search warrant for a Shreveport fireman, I just don't know when," said Doug Pierrelee of Troop G based in Bossier City. "We've been talking with him. And he has been very cooperative with us, so I'm sure it will be of no surprise to him."

And Michael Allen Tucker, the man who was arrested Thursday in connection with the same case, has a history of animal abuse.

State police arrested Tucker, 49, on a charge of dogfighting and seized 37 pit bulls following a yearlong investigation of two facilities here. He is free on $20,000 bond after being booked into Caddo Correctional Center, according to jail records.

Tucker also is one of 26 men and women who were arrested in March 2001 when DeSoto sheriff's deputies sneaked up on dogfights in progress. He was charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals but later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of dogfighting and was ordered to pay a $500 fine plus court costs, according to DeSoto district attorney's office records.

Twenty-six of the dogs seized Thursday had scars and lacerations consistent with dogfighting, including one dog that was missing an eye, and were euthanized on the scene. The remaining dogs were taken to Caddo Animal Control but will be euthanized as well if their owners don't post bond within 15 days of them being seized. Tucker told authorities that all of the pit bulls belong to him.

Besides the dogs, authorities seized a wooden treadmill, a walker similar to those used to train horses to become stronger and manuals used to train pit bulls to fight. Authorities believe some of the dogs were being trained to fight, then sold.

Dogfighting can be a lucrative venture for those involved. Rick Quillin, an investigator with Caddo Animal Control, estimates that some dogs cost $3,000 to $10,000 each and that wagering can reach into the thousands of dollars.

Dogfighting emerged as a big-money gambling outlet throughout the 1990s. And the state dogfighting law made prosecution difficult unless authorities disrupted a dogfight in progress, an extremely rare occurrence.

But in 2001, animal rights activists successfully lobbied to change the law to make it a felony to breed, train or own a dog for fighting, according to Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Authorities now can make cases by seizing evidence such as that confiscated Thursday by state police and Caddo Animal Control.

"It's obvious they were selling dogs. And we want to see where these dogs were going and who the clients are," Pierrelee said.

"We want to take this as far as we can. We will take this across the state line and across the country if we have to," he said. "This is just like a dope run. Sometimes it takes us months and years to get to the bottom of it, just to find out where the dope is going."

Dogfighting carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

References


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