Florida dogfighting rescue: 82 dogs saved

When our Animal Rescue Team followed sheriff’s deputies onto three secluded North Florida properties last December, some signs of suspected dogfighting were easy to spot: animals staked on heavy chains with circles of bare dirt around each; treadmills for conditioning; a portable fighting pit; “crash kits” to treat wounded dogs. There was a dog whose right front foot had been removed but not medically treated, the skin left to shrink over the end of the bone.

Signs of suspected dogfighting

There were also subtler clues: Most of the 82 dogs rescued from the Union County and Clay County properties carried distinctive scars on their faces, ears and legs. At our care and rehabilitation center, where rescued animals were taken for exams and treatment, veterinarians ran their hands over dogs’ bodies to feel for scars, then recorded these as evidence.

Meredith Lee/Humane World for Animals

“Excessive scarring on face, front and rear legs consistent with organized dogfighting,” read one exam form. A diagram of the dog showed dozens of scars, cropped ears, collar-worn neck hair and a scarred right eye.

The dog, a black-and-white male rescuers named Frosty, initially barked and growled, says Laura Koivula, our director of animal crimes and investigations. Then, maybe because he was in pain, she says, he became gentle.

“He was being reactive to rescuers at first, but I had a feeling that he was just scared,” she says. Once off the chain, “his personality completely changed.”

Legal outcomes and next steps

As of January, all dogs had been released to authorities and so could potentially be offered for adoption. In May, three Florida men were each indicted on three counts of possession of dogs for dogfighting. Two of the three had also already been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Dogfighting is already a felony in all 50 states, and bills have passed in the Florida House and Senate to increase the state’s penalties.