These dogs and others suffered injuries from the dogfight that was broken up by the city’s Animal Control Officer and a ride-along guest.

Sixteen dogs seized
after fight breaks out in backyard kennels

March 14, 2014
Santa Paula News

By Peggy Kelly Santa Paula Times Santa Paula Police assisted by other agencies seized 16 dogs from an eastside home Tuesday after a report of a dog fight led to the discovery of the animals, several which were severely wounded.

A SPPD spokesman said the animals could have been bred and trained for dog fighting but the circumstances are still under investigation.

All of the dogs, ranging in age from puppies about six-weeks old to adults were transported to the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center with the two most severely injured taken to a veterinarian for treatment. The others had injuries that were treated at SPARC.

No arrests were made Tuesday, police said.

SPPD Lt. Ishmael Cordero said Animal Control Officer Adam McPhail and SPARC spokesman John Brockus, a trained animal resource officer who happened to be on a ride-along, responded to the house in the 500 block of North 14th Street after a report that four or five dogs were fighting in the backyard.

Upon arrival the dogs were separated and backup called for.

With help from Ventura County Animal Control and the Humane Society, 16 dogs, many of them pit bulls or pit bull mixes, were taken from the property.

Four of the dogs were puppies, two were English bulldogs and one was a Boston terrier. One of the two severely injured dogs was a nursing mother and several others looked to be combinations of the breeds, “Interesting looking dogs,” said McPhail.

He said the “aggressors” included the puppies, one of which broke their jaw either biting the other animal or from the cage it was enclosed in with its mother.

McPhail said it appeared an adult dog, the one most severely injured, had approached the cage with the mother and puppies who had pulled his leg “inside the kennel and all three of them were going after him... “

The dog’s leg was severely injured; there were also two adult English bulldogs with minor injuries, and a Boston terrier that was not injured.

“There was blood everywhere,” from those that were injured that McPhail said likely resulted from, “getting too close” to the fighting dogs.

“Several others were fine, they were in other cages, but we took everybody,” to SPARC. 

He said all the dogs were non-aggressive but one dog initially resisted being transported due to fright but was soon calmed.

 Found in the yard of the single-family home was a so-called agitator stick used to focus a dog’s attention on an item and the pit bulls had closely cropped ears and tails, some apparently done by a nonprofessional.

Of the latter McPhail said ears and tails are sometimes cropped “To make the dog look tougher,” or for fighting dogs to keep the blood out of their eyes, a move similar to removing the combs of fighting roosters.

Overall, he added, “We want animals to be cared for, to be safe and they’re being treated very well at SPARC... and we’ll make sure they stay that way.”

Cordero said no one was home at the time, but the property owner later went to the police station and denied any wrongdoing. 

“He was claiming he was only taking care of some of the dogs,” including several rescues.

Cordero said the property owner, “was interviewed, but the investigation is ongoing to determine if any charges will be filed, and if so, what charges, and to determine who actually owns the dogs and what kind of operation was being run there.”

The investigation includes the large number of dogs found on the property, more than four times the city’s allowable limit.

The owner has 10 days to request a hearing contesting the seizure of the dogs. 

After that, Cordero said Humane Society and police investigators could pursue animal cruelty charges if warranted.





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