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Case #6888 Rating: 1.0 out of 5
11 wounded dogs seized - dog-fighting suspected
San Bernardino, CA (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jan 6, 2006
County: San Bernardino
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Albert Dean Cain, Jr.
» Albert Dean Cain, Sr. - Dismissed
Case Updates: 7 update(s) available
Two men are in custody on suspicion of raising pit bulls for fighting purposes and dealing narcotics after officers were called to their home to look into a shooting that left several bullet holes in the walls of the house.
The men, a father and grandfather, were arrested on January 6, 2006 at the house in the 1500 block of West 9th Street in San Bernardino after police served a search warrant there, said Lt. Scott Paterson. Two adult children at the home were not arrested.
Officers were called to the home about 4 p.m. after someone shot at the residence. Once there, officers found evidence of possible narcotics dealing and animal cruelty, Paterson said. Eleven dogs at the home were in various stages of training and some were injured, he said. One large male dog was healing from wounds, including bite and gouge marks on its body, likely from fighting with other pit bulls, Paterson said. Police found various items used in the training of pit bulls including treadmills, devices used to strengthen the dogs' jaws and pry them open, he said.
Investigations into the shooting and animal charges are ongoing.
Case UpdatesA man convicted of hosting dog fights in his backyard finished the three-year court case with probation this week, but his 11 pit bulls remain behind bars.
Albert Dean Cain Jr. was sentenced Tuesday to three years in state prison, but instead will serve three years of probation if he doesn't violate any laws.
The fight dogs are still locked in their 5- by 6-foot cages while attorneys iron out a liability agreement for the canines, who cannot be adopted due to their aggressive behavior toward other animals.
"The guy who did this is not going to get a day in jail and these dogs can't get out," said Tia Maria Torres, owner of Villalobos Rescue Center, who is planning on rehabilitating the dogs at her Agua Dulce facility.
The pit bulls - considered evidence in the case - have been locked up at the San Bernardino Animal Control Shelter since January 2006.
Cain must also repay the shelter more than $120,000 in restitution, said prosecutor Debbie Ploghaus. She said Cain is disputing that amount and is appealing his sentence.
Although the dogs were ordered released immediately and Torres expected to pick them up Wednesday, paperwork delayed the dog's freedom. Officials said the pit bulls should leave the shelter by early next week.
Sue Hoak, animal control manager, said she wants a "happy outcome for the dogs" and is eager to get them to the rescue center.
"We never, ever expected or intended these animals to be here this long," she said. "It's absolutely heartbreaking. It's hard on the staff, it's hard on the dogs." | Source: The Sun - July 1, 2009
Update posted on Jul 5, 2009 - 6:37PM |
The line of solitary-confinement cages at the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter has the look of Death Row.
One pit bull paces in circles incessantly. Another acts like a crazed Energizer Bunny, repeatedly leaping to the 6-foot-high ceiling, as if seeking escape. Others would spend hours slinging their water bowls, until keepers replaced them with heavy water-filled buckets.
At the shelter, the 11 pit bulls are known as the Albert Cain dogs. They have been caged for three years, their fate tied to the outcome of their owner's prosecution on felony dog-fighting charges.
If Cain is convicted, possibly later this month, it likely will mean death for most of the dogs. They likely will be euthanized because the city doesn't want the liability of allowing anyone to adopt fighting dogs, shelter officials say.
If Cain is acquitted, but can't or won't pay the board-and-care bill that already totals nearly $100,000, the dogs still face death.
But there's no guarantee the case will end this month.
"This is a big problem. Having animals languish for three years is not unusual, because the legal system takes so long," said Madeline Bernstein, a former New York City prosecutor who is president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles. "The legal system is oblivious that this is a problem."
Bernstein bridles at the notion that such animals must be kept as evidence. In an animal-cruelty case, their condition after months or years at an animal shelter is irrelevant, she argues.
"There's no evidentiary value to the animals once they've been impounded, because they change: We heal them," she said.
To prove a case, authorities document the animals' condition with photos, medical reports or testimony, she said.
Meanwhile, the impounded animals suffer, she said.
"They'll all go 'cage crazy' eventually," she said. "The racket of the shelter will bother them. They'll chew on themselves. They'll walk in circles. They'll grieve. How would you like to be in a closet for ... years?"
Bernstein also blasts California's animal cruelty law, saying it is poorly written and rife with contradictions.
"On one hand, it says there are ways to release these animals" before the case goes to trial, she said. Forfeiture hearings can be held, owners can be assessed for the cost of impounding their animals or asked to release their claim on them.
"On the other hand, it says, after trial you should still have these animals," Bernstein said.
In Los Angeles County, Deputy District Attorney Debbie Knaan says that sending monthly bills to an accused dog-fighter is one of the most effective ways to avoid having to keep the animals for months or years.
Defendants are offered an administrative hearing to determine the validity of the animals' seizure or impoundment, she said.
If they fail to request the hearing, Knaan said, they become liable for the food and board of their animals. If the bills are unpaid, a lien is filed against their property.
"But let's say they pay it: You've got a problem, because it's their property," she said. "If they're acquitted, the defendant has a right to get their animals."
Cain's legal troubles began after he summoned police to complain that he had been shot at outside his San Bernardino home.
Animal control officers were called when police noticed one of his dogs was injured. They found more injured dogs and dogfighting paraphernalia, investigators said. One room was a dog-fighting pit, with blood spattered three feet high on the walls, investigators said.
San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Debbie Ploghaus said the dogs aren't needed as evidence. She says Cain should have been given a forfeiture notice long ago -- or been asked to surrender ownership.
She asked him recently if he would give the dogs up, Ploghaus said.
"He refused," she said. "And I cannot force him to give up his property."
At the shelter, Director Ken Childress is blunt about the animals' future.
"He's not going to get his dogs back," Childress said. "There's not going to be a payment plan."
Even at only $8 per dog for room and board, that's $88 a day -- or $32,120 annually.
Over three years, the bill has skyrocketed to more than $96,000. And there may be more charges, like veterinary costs.
Nor is Childress inclined to put the dogs up for adoption.
"There's a liability issue," he said. "As soon as you adopt a pit bull that has been here for three years and it goes out and bites the neighbor's child, the city is going to get sued.
"Or when you find out that the city adopted out a fighting dog that came over and killed your pet, you're going to be furious."
Not everyone agrees that pit bulls -- even if they were fighters -- are a lost cause.
"Every dog deserves a second chance," said John Polis, spokesman for Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.
The sanctuary's staff accepted 22 pit bulls from the Michael Vick dog-fighting case and already has placed one with a foster family, an interim step that could lead to a permanent home.
"It takes time and effort, but these fighting dogs can be rehabilitated," dog kennel manager John Garcia said by phone.
Cain's dogs fit a nationwide pattern, he said.
Every major shelter has at least one dog on a court hold, Garcia said.
In his view, a dog is a dog, whether it's a Chihuahua or a pit bull. They require different training techniques, he said, but the same concept: Consistent rewards for good behavior.
"We've proved it with the Michael Vick dogs. Eleven of the 22 are completely fine with other dogs." | Source: The Press-Enterprise - Feb 9, 2009
Update posted on Feb 9, 2009 - 12:25PM |
The August 4th trial against accused dog-fighter Albert Dean Cain has been postponed again.
Cain, 47, will appear in court next on August 29, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. for a "readiness hearing" in San Bernardino County Superior Court. A new trial date has yet to be set.
Cain faces dog-fighting related animal cruelty charges stemming from his arrest in January 2006, when police were called to his home after someone reportedly shot at the residence.
Twelve dogs at the home were seized, many of which reportedly had injuries consistent with dog-fighting. One had to be euthanized.
Police also reportedly found various items often used to train fighting dogs, including treadmills, bite sticks and devices used to strengthen the dogs' jaws. | Source: San Bernardino County Superior Court Case # FSB055714
Update posted on Aug 6, 2008 - 6:40PM |
After numerous delays spanning more than two years, another pre-trial conference has been set for alleged dog-fighter Albert Dean Cain.
Cain, 47, will appear in court on July 10, 2008, at 8:40 a.m. in San Bernardino County Superior Court. Trial is set for August 4, 2008, at 10:00 a.m.
Cain faces felony dog-fighting and drug charges stemming from his arrest in January 2006, when police were called to his home after someone reportedly shot at the residence.
Once there, officers allegedly found evidence of narcotics and animal cruelty. Eleven dogs at the home were seized, some of which were identified as having injuries consistent with illegal animal fighting.
Police also reportedly found various items often used to train fighting dogs, including treadmills, bite sticks and devices used to strengthen the dogs' jaws.
Charges against Cain's father, Albert Cain Sr., were dismissed last August. | Source: San Bernardino County Case #FSB055714
Update posted on Jun 5, 2008 - 5:54PM |
Albert Dean Cain, Jr. is scheduled to appear in court next on June 6 at 8:30 a.m. in Department S-12.
Cain faces felony dog-fighting and drug charges stemming from his arrest in January 2006, when police were called to his home after someone reportedly shot at his residence.
Once there, officers allegedly found evidence of narcotics and animal cruelty. Eleven dogs at the home were seized, some of which were identified as having injuries consistent with illegal animal fighting.
Nearly a year and a half later, the confiscated dogs remain at the San Bernardino animal shelter, awaiting disposition of the case. | Source: Case # FSB055714
Update posted on May 15, 2007 - 7:30PM |
Albert Dean Cain, Jr. will appear in court next on May 2 at 8:30 a.m. for a disposition hearing.
Cain faces felony dog-fighting and drug charges stemming from his arrest in January 2006, when police were called to his home after someone reportedly shot at the residence.
Once there, officers allegedly found evidence of narcotics and animal cruelty. Eleven dogs at the home were seized, some of which were identified as having injuries consistent with illegal animal fighting.
Police also reportedly found various items often used to train fighting dogs, including treadmills, bite sticks and devices used to strengthen the dogs' jaws.
Charges against Cain's father, Albert Cain Sr., were dismissed last August. | Source: San Bernardino County Case # FSB055714
Update posted on Apr 2, 2007 - 5:42PM |
Languishing in individual cages at the San Bernardino animal shelter, Tequila and 10 other pit bulls are well into their second year of near-constant confinement.
"They're 'cage crazy,' " animal-control Officer Joyce Gossman said of the dogs she confiscated Jan. 6, 2006, at a house in central San Bernardino.
The bored animals occasionally pace in circles, stare into the distance or bob their heads from side to side.
They're being held as evidence in a felony dog-fighting case that is scheduled to return to court March 29. But the critters also are evidence that dog-fighting and cock-fighting cases often are difficult to prove and can face a long and bumpy road through the courts.
"We try to get them out at least once a day for a 15-minute run," Gossman said of the dogs that she describes as people-friendly but savagely aggressive toward other dogs.
"Even prisons give (inmates at least) an hour, but that's all we can do."
As miserable as they are now, their prospects might be worse. Confiscated dogs that are proven to have been bred and trained to fight usually are put down because, experts say, they're too dangerous to be adopted.
Some animal-cruelty investigators say it's time for animal-fighting offenders to be prosecuted more frequently and aggressively. The number of offenses, particularly dog fighting, is increasing throughout California, said Eric Sakach, West Coast director for the Humane Society of the United States.
"Forty-eight states now carry it as a felony crime," Sakach said. "But law enforcement is slow to pick up on how to investigate these cases."
Some major police agencies, including those in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, have, or are establishing, task forces to fight the problem.
As for birds, cockfighting has been particularly prevalent in San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial and San Diego counties since 1998, when neighboring Arizona made the crime a felony, Sakach said.
Now that California has made it a felony for second and subsequent convictions, Sakach predicts another migration.
"The smart (animal fighters) are going to either drop out or move to ... misdemeanor states," Sakach said. "Dog fighting is still a misdemeanor in Idaho and Wyoming.
"Cockfighting is legal in ... Louisiana."
Nationwide, animal-fighting cases tend to move slowly through the courts, experts say.
"They drag out until anybody who would testify is gone. People retire. People get transferred. The employee goes off on vacation and the trial comes up," said Ken Childress, Gossman's boss and the director of the San Bernardino Department of Animal Control. "I came from Memphis, and I had cases there that (lasted) ... for years."
The delays aren't simply the result of defense lawyers dragging their feet, either, he said.
Junior prosecutors usually are assigned to animal-fighting cases, but they often rise through the ranks faster than low-priority dog-fighting cases typically get to trial, requiring assignment of new prosecutors, Childress said.
"And by the time the next (prosecutor) comes along, the new junior person doesn't have any experience in animal cases," he said.
Law-enforcement agencies also have given low priority to animal-fighting cases. Though dog fights have long been subject to felony charges, it's often difficult to prove who is responsible for a fight without an eyewitness willing to testify in court, Gossman said.
Cockfighting only became subject to felony charges Jan. 1 -- and only if the suspect has a previous conviction for cockfighting and a prosecutor decides that the new incident is serious enough to warrant a felony charge.
No one keeps comprehensive statistics on the number of animal-fighting arrests in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. But San Bernardino County district attorney statistics show that only one charge of dog fighting was issued last year and two charges of possession of a bird or other animal for the purpose of fighting.
An additional 23 charges of animal cruelty were issued in San Bernardino County, though that lesser charge can cover anything from apparent fight-related injuries to underfeeding or overworking the animal.
Major differences between the two crimes include the participants and their motives.
"When you're talking about dog-fighting, you're (generally) talking about criminal elements: a lot of drugs, a lot of gang members," said Lt. Chris Mayer, of the Riverside County Department of Animal Services. "When you're talking about cockfighting, more of that is cultural with the Hispanic population," including those from Mexico where cockfighting is legal and popular.
Tequila the pit bull wags her tail and exudes friendliness when a visitor approaches her padlocked chain-link cage.
But the instant she is taken out for a walk, Tequila, and the 10 other confiscated pit bulls held nearby, go berserk.
Teeth bared, they lunge at each other, their attacks thwarted only by the caging. Some leap to the ceilings of the 6-foot-high enclosures. And the barking is ferocious and incessant.
The dogs belong to Albert Dean Cain Jr., according to court testimony.
"I was not fighting my dogs," Cain said in a brief telephone interview.
Cain, 46, said they are show dogs. His legal troubles began, both sides agree, after he summoned police, saying he'd been shot at during a drive-by shooting outside the San Bernardino house where he and his dogs lived at the time.
Police called animal-control officers after they noticed that Tequila had a badly torn ear.
A Superior Court judge decided there was enough evidence against Cain to warrant a trial, based partly on the testimony of Gossman, the animal-control officer who seized the dogs.
She focused largely on injuries, court records show. Two dogs had fresh cuts and punctures and the rest had healing scars, she testified.
She also told of finding dog-fighting paraphernalia, including treadmills, antibiotics, bags filled with intravenous fluids, and sticks that she believes are the type that dog fighters use to pry open the jaws of their animals to break up a fight.
The judge also was told that one room of the house amounted to a dog-fighting pit, its walls splattered with blood as high as 3 feet above the floor.
If Cain wins, animal-control director Childress said, he'll likely face a bill of tens of thousands of dollars for the dogs' lodging and medical care while at the shelter -- unless he signs them over to the city.
But if he gives up ownership, or is convicted and the dogs are permanently taken away from him by the court, the shelter would have no other choice than euthanizing them, Childress said.
They're too aggressive for officials to risk the possibility that they'd end up as pets and conceivably attack other animals or even children, he said. And once bred and trained for fighting, Childress said, they don't mellow out.
"They wouldn't be good adoption candidates." | Source: Press-Enterprise - March 25, 2007
Update posted on Mar 27, 2007 - 3:47AM |
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