South Side Dogfight Broken Up

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Nov 17, 2008 4:10PM

Cook County sheriff's police broke up a dogfight taking place in the basement of a house in the 500 block of West 66th St. on Saturday night. The fight was attended by 50 people, including a pregnant woman and a few teenagers. Three men (pictured from left to right: Donaver Jones, Melvin Trent and Timothy Norris) were charged with felony dogfighting. All others were issued misdemeanor tickets for attending a dogfight.

Police swept into the basement about 10 p.m. Saturday night to find a bloodied 10-by-10-foot makeshift ring surrounded by 3-foot-high wooden boards smeared with blood, bites and scratches. The floor of the ring was covered with a red rug that police said was used to disguise blood.

Police found one dog crouching in the corner so badly injured that it had to be carried away on a stretcher, and authorities do not expect it to survive. The other dog was taken to a local shelter.

Officers confiscated a tackle box filled with steroids, amphetamines, syringes and an IV drip, all of which were allegedly used to keep the dogs aggressive and alive. They also found a staple gun used to close the dogs' wounds so they could keep fighting, as well as thick wooden stakes used to drive apart the dogs' jaws after they'd locked down on the other dog.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said it was the first time a dogfight had been broken up in progress. "We were very surprised to walk in to that, in process of it going on, that's somewhat unusual. The whole thing was unsettling, there were little kids, a pregnant woman, guns all over the place." He later added, "What we interrupted Saturday night was both disgusting and disturbing. So many times, we hear about fights after the fact or find the discarded remains of a dog involved in one of these fights." Jones admitted organizing the fight and admitted to having been previously arrested downstate on similar charges.

Sadly, this is far from the first time something like this has happened this year. Many of us here at Chicagoist are dog owners and think someone needs to knock these guys upside their heads and make them watch this video on repeat. [Trib, S-T]