Crime Time

Multi-state dogfighting crackdown busts nine Texans

Eight people in East Texas were among 30 people arrested Wednesday in dogfighting raids in three states, the Justice Department said.

Officials from the Humane Society of the United States, which cooperated in the investigation, said this was the largest dogfighting raid in U.S. history.

The raids by task forces involving federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were conducted across Missouri, southern Illinois and eastern Texas after a nine-month investigation.

“This intervention is a momentous victory in our ongoing battle to end the cruel, criminal dog fighting industry,” said Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president.

Prosecutors said nine people were indicted in East Texas, and eight of them were arrested Wednesday in Texas' Panola and Gregg counties. Nine dogs, mostly pit bull terriers (like the ones shown at right), were seized during a search of property in rural Panola County.

The Humane Society officials said hundreds of dogs were rescued Wednesday in the various states.

Read more here.

-- Bill Miller

Reputed dogfighter disappears; police believe he's hiding

Where's David Townsend Jr.?

Law enforcement officials and relatives of the 33-year-old man are speculating his whereabouts after he disappeared less than two months after being freed from jail on unrelated drug charges.

Townsend, left, is believed to have knowledge of an unsolved slaying in southeast Texas, leading his mother and his lawyer to say they think he may have met with foul play -- possibly to keep him from talking about the growing underground world of high-stakes dogfights.

His mother, Beverly Garrison Feutral, said he dropped out of sight after going to Acres Homes, a high-crime area of Houston, to "take care of some business and get some money that was owed to him." That business, Feutral and others say, may have involved a money transaction for pit bulls.

Police, on the other hand, believe he is alive and well -- possibly hiding in the thick woods of southeast Texas.

"He's alive," said Montgomery County Sheriff's Lt. Philip Cash. "It was his plan from the get-go that as soon as he got out of jail, he would" jump bail.

Local, state and federal investigators wanted to talk to Townsend about Thomas Weigner, a renowned dogfighter and breeder of pit bulls (like the one pictured above from the Star-Telegram archives).

Weigner was shot to death in August 2006.

Read more in this report by Staff Writer Jack Douglas Jr.

Enormity of illegal dog fights uncovered

The dog fighting case of Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick has brought attention to the covert culture surrounding the fighting rings where pit bulls and other breeds battle to the death.

But Staff Writer Jack Douglas Jr. reports that dog fighting has gone virtually undetected by law enforcement for years.

And now investigators realize that the criminal activity is booming throughout the country, with the trafficking of fight-worthy dogs coexisting with drug trafficking, street gangs and violence.

A note to the reader: Jack's report contains graphic video imagery of actual fights; viewer discretion is advised.

-- Bill Miller