Law enforcement cracking down on illegal dogfighting: ‘We will find you’

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Law enforcement officials in the Carolinas say they are putting more focus on busting up dogfighting operations as awareness of the issue grows and training to tackle the problem increases. 

Earlier this month, state leaders in South Carolina announced a two-day, multi-county law enforcement operation that ended with the rescue of 150 dogs from Marion and Dillon counties and the arrest of 11 people. 

ASPCA is now assisting with medically and behaviorally vetting the seized animals, which the organization described as having “untreated injuries and scarring consistent with dogfighting.” Reports from ASPCA and law enforcement involved also state dogfighting paraphernalia was discovered, including treadmills, fighting pits and medications, plus illegal guns and drugs, like cocaine, ketamine and fentanyl. 

The discovery highlights a link law enforcement frequently sees between the widespread but underground world of dogfighting and other organized criminal activity like gun, drug and human trafficking. The activity is also likely more common than many might think, with national animal advocacy groups estimating about 40,000 people in the United States participate in the crime, despite its felony status in all 50 states. 

Those tight connections with other criminal activity, along with the gruesomeness of dogfighting itself, has South Carolina officials putting a stronger focus on busting up these rings.  

“I’ve seen the videos,” Gov. Henry McMaster said, of videos showing the fights themselves. “It’ll make you cry. It’ll make you mad.” 

In 2023, SLED’s dogfighting task force was created and has since rescued 500 dogs and arrested more than 100 people. While multiple agencies assisted in this latest bust, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office will be prosecuting the case. 

“Let me be clear,” Mark Keel, Chief of SLED, said. “If you are involved in dogfighting in South Carolina, we will find you, and we will arrest you, and you will be held accountable.” 

While inroads are being made in finding and disrupting dogfighting operations, animal advocates and those working to enforce animal laws in the Carolinas say there is more work to be done. 

Cindy Zimmerman, an enforcement specialist with Gaston County Animal Care and Enforcement, said awareness of the issue in the community can always be higher, giving its potential to emerge anywhere. 

“We’ve found them in the middle of the city — 41 animals on one property in the middle of the city, and we find them on the outskirts where they’ll put them in the wood line,” Zimmerman said. “They’ll put tarps up to keep people from seeing them.” 

Zimmerman also described the resources and time needed in dogfighting investigations, which have been likened in resource burden to narcotics investigations. 

“That takes a lot of time gathering information, digging into the person’s background, talking to people they know,” Zimmerman said. “Even beyond that, once you are going to enact the warrant on that property to seize the dogs and the evidence, you have to have a vet on site available to tag and photograph and document wounds, as you take those dogs out.” 

Seizing the animals, which then become evidence, can be a further burden as the dogs might have to be housed in a shelter, or elsewhere, for years, as the case makes its way through the court system. With municipal shelters in the area frequently full, national groups like ASPCA and Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States) can sometimes step in to help.

Then, even after the case is closed, the punishment might not be as high as some might expect.

In 2023, a large dogfighting case out of Charlotte drew attention when it ended with the defendant Earl Hamilton serving probation and a five-year ban on owning animals, following an Alford guilty plea on dozens of felony and misdemeanor dogfighting and animal cruelty charges.  

“Absolutely a slap on the wrist,” Jackie Bonner-Farnham, a board member with animal welfare group Unchain America, said in response. 

At the time, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said, with dogfighting and animal cruelty considered “low level” Class H felonies in North Carolina, punishment is usually probationary. He pointed out that state law constrains sentencing to that level of severity and any changes would have to come from state lawmakers. 

Nevertheless, Zimmerman said authorities continue to turn their focus more to these dogfighting cases. 

“I think you’ll start to see more frequent dogfighting cases,” Zimmerman said. “I know we have a handful in Gaston County, and so the more we do [these investigations], the better we get at it.” 

Zimmerman urges the public to do its part and asks anyone who suspects dogfighting is happening in their community to speak up. 

“That needs to be reported,” Zimmerman said. “On a bigger level, state-side, we’ve got to start going to the state representatives and screaming about this … If an animal can feel pain and suffering, just like a human can, and you do that to them … it’s murder.” 

• Pit bulls on heavy chains 
• Scarred dogs, especially pit bulls  
• Treadmills  
• Fighting pit, often with “scratch lines”  
• Vitamins, drugs, and vet supplies 
• Breaking sticks, used to pry open dogs’ mouths during a fight 
• Dogfighting publications 
• Springpole (hanging device made from knotted rope, rawhide or tire, meant to build up dogs’ jaw strength) 

People can submit a tip to South Carolina’s SLED dogfighting unit by emailing tips@sled.sc.gov. ASPCA has tips for documenting and reporting animal cruelty to authorities. 

Humane World for Animals has these suggestions for reporting possible dogfighting: 

WCNC Charlotte anchor Vanessa Ruffes explores dogfighting punishments, plus the ties between animal cruelty and domestic violence, in a one-hour special on the streaming app WCNC+. Find it on demand under the “Shows” section.