FOX 13 News
The Hillsborough County Animal Services has rescued 18 dogs being trained to fight by a man living in Wimauma, Florida.
When arriving to the suspected scene, dog could be seen kept in tiny cages allowing no room to even turn around or fully stand, and most were covered in their own excrement. Basically, they were living in chains, and very badly abused.
“No food or water, no shelter, no way to escape the sun, pretty much deplorable for an animal to have to live that way,” said Cpl. Ken Vetzel. He is an animal services investigator with Hillsborough.
Allen Deshon Brown, 34-years-old has been arrested. They suspect him of training the dogs to be sold into illegal dog fighting.
He faces numerous charges of animal cruelty, which comes as no surprise to neighbors.
“He’d have them running,” said one neighbor. “Pulling stuff, like weights or something,” said another.
Brown was busted, according to investigators, because of an anonymous tip, and also has been suspected and investigated by local authorities for a while now, for possibly supplying other people in the county in breeding and practicing dog fighting.
Vetzel said dog fighting is a persistent, and very big problem, it’s just not always carried out by a large group of people so publically.
“You take two off the street and three more show up,” said Vetzel. “It’s profitable to the people that are involved in it. I don’t know what the answer is.”
The dogs will be cleaned and treated for any medical issues. After that, they will be individually worked with and assessed for ability for possible adoption. Hopefully, they can be rehabbed and adopted out to loving forever homes, and not put back out to fight.
“That’s why I do my job every day, because there is people like Mr. Brown that are out there, that are career criminals, they make a living, and in this case he was making a living off the backs of these dogs,” Vetzel said.
Brown is being held on four dog fighting related charges, without bond.
