(Photo courtesy of KHOU-TV)  Authorities broke up what they called one of the largest dogfighting rings in the country, arresting eight people -- including a school teacher -- filing charges against four dozen more and seizing at least 168 dogs.

"A lot of people in Texas still believe that dog fighting is entertainment," Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Lisa Block said. "We are here to tell you it is not entertainment. It is a crime."

  (Photo courtesy of KHOU-TV)  The ring spanned five counties -- Matagorda, Tyler, Jasper, Montgomery and Harris -- and involved dog fights with as many as 100 spectators at a time who bet on the contests, officials said.

  (Photo courtesy of the Houston Chronicle, photo's of rescued dogs cover the door of the Harris County ADA Belinda Smith)  DPS officials and prosecutors would not describe the ring in detail because they said they were still looking for about 43 suspects. All, including the eight arrested, were charged with engaging in dog fighting, a felony.

Drug and gambling-related charges are pending, said Harris County Assistant District Attorney Belinda Smith.

Among those arrested was Jay Andrews, 37, a teacher in the Aldine Independent School District in Houston. A call to determine if Andrews had a lawyer were not immediately returned.

Andrews has taught English at an alternative school for four years and was arrested at the school, said district spokeswoman Leticia Fehling. He will be reassigned to duties outside the classroom until the criminal investigation is over, she said.

The eight people arrested -- after a 17-month investigation -- were ringleaders, involved in some of the more "egregious" fights or were also involved in drug activity, Smith said.

Smith said most of the dogs were pit bull terriers or mutts that were part pit bulls. They were bred specifically for dog fighting by several owners. Many of the 168 dogs seized in three counties were injured.

  (Photo courtesy of KHOU-TV)  Block said veterinarians were examining the dogs and that a judge would decide their fate.

Authorities said they have not completely shut down the operation because they're still searching for other suspects, but Smith called the arrests a "death blow" to the ring.

Block said authorities called it one of the nation's largest dogfighting rings based on the number of people involved, the number of spectators and the value of the bets placed.

The seven other men arrested were being held in the Harris County Jail.

The results of a 17-month investigation into alleged dogfighting in Harris County:

55 .. The number of people charged

41 .. Felony charges brought

45 .. Misdemeanor charges filed

1 YEAR IN JAIL, $4,000 FINE: The maximum punishment for being a spectator at a dogfight

187 dogs, 1 horse, several snakes, firearms, drugs seized

Charges range from weapons, drugs, theft & stolen property.

...

ARRESTS SO FAR

Suspects arrested in the dogfighting bust:

- Donald Wayne Woods, 41, two felony charges of dogfighting

- Jay Andrews, 37, of the 4400 block of Weaver, one felony charge of dogfighting

- Ellis Wayne Island Jr., 45, of Channelview, three felony charges of dogfighting

- Kevin James Rogers, 28, of the 14400 block of Victoria, two felony charges of dogfighting

- Robert Lee Rogers, 38, of the 14200 block of Garber, two felony charges of dogfighting

- William Marquis Stanforth, 31, of Channelview, three felony charges of dogfighting

- Benjamin C. Stanforth, 30, of the 6000 block of Milwee, two felony charges of dogfighting

- Harold Jeffery, 36, of Hockley, one felony charge of dogfighting

Update 11/15/08:  Details emerging from the investigation into one of the largest dogfighting rings in the country indicate an elaborate underground web involving dozens of people, including some from Latin America.

Authorities already have seized 187 animals from Harris, Montgomery and Tyler counties connected to the operation. As many as 100 people attended the fights, placing bets as high as $1,000 for a single match.

Detailed records kept by those involved should help authorities prosecute the eight people arrested and the 47 other suspects who have been indicted, but not yet arrested.

Charges related to weapons, drugs, theft and stolen property found during the raid will be filed against some suspects. A horse, several snakes, firearms, cocaine and other dangerous drugs were among the items recovered.

"This is a dynamic investigation that is still very active," Houston-based DPS Trooper Richard Standifer said. "We expect more arrests will be made in the short term."

Undercover officers attended and videotaped some of the weekly or bimonthly fights held at eight secluded sites in Harris County.

2006 records used; Though the 17-month undercover investigation was started by a tip from an informant in another state, records seized from a 2006 Liberty County raid where nearly 300 pit bulls were seized also aided the investigation, said Leone.

"They keep a lot of paperwork — journals of fights, etc.," said Harris County Pct. 6 Sgt. P. Leone, who works with the Houston Humane Society's Rescuing Animals In Danger Education Resource program. "We've found crates used to ship the dogs internationally, to places like Guatemala and Honduras."

One dog seized in east Houston was won by the suspect in Mexico and had what are considered "good fighting bloodlines," said Leone, who was present during several of the seizures.

While some dogs seized were in fairly decent condition, other sites housed dogs with multiple cuts and "flies in their ears," he said.  One dog's throat was open and exposed at a site in Conroe, said Leone.

"It's very obvious that these are not pets," he said, adding that the animals are "conditioned" to fight.

Weights are often tied to their necks to build strength. Harris County prosecutor Belinda Smith said the animals were often inbred, in an attempt to make them meaner.

And size doesn't matter, Leone said.  "You would think the bigger, stronger dogs would be the most desirable, but they're not. It's the smaller, more agile ones that are the fighters," he said.

Dogs worth a lot.  An animal welfare official present at one of the seizures in Tyler County reported seeing dogfighting paraphernalia, including a treadmill and video cases from different fights, as well as the "charred skeletal remains" of what appeared to a dog.

"We don't yet know why or how this happened," said Meera Nandlal, a spokeswoman with the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Authorities seized 61 dogs from that site. Each dog was individually chained outside, and out of the reach of the other dogs, when authorities arrived.  "The dogs were able to stand up and move," Nandlal said.

All of the animals seized during the investigation are being held at undisclosed locations for their safety and to prevent the owners from finding them.

"They are worth a fair amount of money. Pups go for $350, $400, $500. And those with champion-type bloodlines can go for $1,500 to $3,000," Leone said.

They are being cared for by the SPCA, Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services and the Houston Humane Society.

A judge will decide the dogs' fate.  "My guess is that the majority will have to be euthanized. Some of the dogs may be people friendly, but the question you have to ask yourself is whether or not you'd want your 3-year-old child around the dog," said Leone.

Former professional baseball player and Aldine ISD schoolteacher Jay Andrews, 37, was one of the eight people arrested. Investigators declined to detail Andrews' involvement in the dogfighting ring, but are confident that the evidence will prove the former Kansas City Royal was involved.  Andrews is out on $2,000 bond and could not be reached for comment.

"These operations are tangled webs. You've got all of these people who are connected in this underground world. And we'll eventually get them. This put a pretty big dent in the dogfighting world for a while," said Leone.

Mary Lewis had expected roofers to come to her house for a little remodeling the morning of Friday, Nov. 14. Instead she looked out her window to see police officers sporting masks and guns.

Unbeknownst to Lewis, the armed officers were just one part of a large-scale raid conducted Friday aimed at rooting out what officials are calling one of the largest organized dog fighting rings in the country.

Officers arrested 38-year-old Robert Lee Rogers from the property - located near the intersection of FM 1942 and Garth Road in Baytown - after finding 20 scarred and emaciated pit bulls being held there.

Tim Harkness, veterinarian for the Houston Humane Society, said that the dogs were bound with heavy chains and were forced to stand in pits of muddy, cold water.

Many were dangerously thin and showed evidence of facials wounds caused by fights, while others had abscessed wounds, bacterial skin infections, fleas and parasites.

“With the weather about to change in the next couple of days, a lot of them would have died,” he said. “Euthanasia is a better option than the one these dogs were trying to survive with.”

  (Photo courtesy of Houston Community Newspapers - a trailer containing 20 kennels of abused and mistreated pitbulls is removed from the property by the Houston Humane Society)  The dogs will be taken to a central location and individually examined, but their ultimate fates will be decided in court, Harkness added.

Acting on an outside tip, spokesperson Lisa Block said that undercover DPS agents had attended dozens of dog fights for over a year prior to Friday’s bust and obtained evidence suggesting that heavy drug trafficking and theft are also entwined with the operation.

Agents also discovered that many of the dogs were being purposely inbred with the goal of increasing their inclination toward erratic and violent behavior.

“A lot of time and effort was put into the training of these dogs,” said Block.

It is the agency’s hope that Friday’s crackdown will stem a disturbing trend in a state where the popularity of dog fighting appears to be on the rise.

“Many people in Texas still believe that dog fighting is entertainment. We are here to tell you that it is not entertainment, it’s a crime,” Block added.

Rogers and the seven other suspects are currently being held in Harris County jail. In total 41 felony charges were filed as a result of Friday’s arrests.

Lewis - Rogers’ neighbor and herself a dog owner - said that in the year knew him she never heard or saw anything that might have aroused suspicions of the terrible things happening on the property.

She admitted to watching Rogers carry kennels of dogs to and from the property on occasion but said that the animals all seemed perfectly healthy.

“He told us that he had the dogs because he used them as hunting dogs, pulling dogs and show dogs,” she said. “I had no clue he was keeping fighting dogs. I just took the man at his word.”

As for Rogers himself, Lewis said didn’t know him personally but might have once described him as a, “good guy” who always treated her cordially and had once even attended the same church as her.

After this incident, however, she said she has a very different opinion of the man with regards to the abuse he is accused of perpetrating.

“It’s a crime, it shouldn’t be going on and had I known I would have reported it myself,” she said.

Update 11/16/08:  State investigators collared one of the largest dogfighting rings in the country, dismantling a sophisticated operation based largely in east Harris County with the grand jury indictments of 55 people.

Update 11/17/08:  A man accused of playing a key role in a huge dogfighting ring was set to appear in court on unrelated drug and forgery charges.

Donald Woods, 41, is one of 55 people charged in a year-long investigation into dog fights.

Update 11/19/08:  One of the men charged in connection with a huge dogfighting ring based in Harris County received $1,500 from undercover agents for a puppy that was intended for dogfighting , prosecutors said.

  (Photo courtesy of KHOU-TV) The allegation was made as Donald Wayne Woods (SPN # 00853459), DOB 6/3/67, appeared in court to face two counts of dogfighting.  His attorney said Woods denies the accusations.

More details emerged during court proceedings for Woods and another man accused in the alleged ring that authorities say was one of the country's largest dogfighting operations.

The second man, Ellis Wayne Island Jr., told the Houston Chronicle after his hearing that he did not have a leadership role in dogfighting . He would not say, however, whether he ever attended dogfights or participated in them.

"I'm no ringleader. I'm no kingpin," Island, 45, said after a brief hearing in the court of state District Judge George Godwin.

Island's initial court appearance was reset to Jan. 8 because he has not yet hired an attorney to represent him against three counts of dogfighting .

Woods, 41, of Houston, appeared in the court of state District Judge Mike Anderson.

The judge ruled that prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed with the charges against Woods.

Prosecutors told Anderson that undercover agents paid Woods $1,500 for a puppy that was meant for fighting.

They also said that Woods organized a dogfight that undercover agents witnessed. Bets on that fight totaled between $4,500 and $5,000, prosecutors said.

Woods' attorney, Augustin Pink, said after the hearing that his client denies selling "anything to anybody."  "He's still maintaining his innocence," Pink said.

Woods is scheduled to appear in court again on Dec. 4.

If convicted, Island could face up to two years in jail. Woods, because of previous convictions, could receive a longer sentence if deemed a habitual criminal.

Island told the Chronicle that he has managed a local restaurant for more than 20 years. He would not identify the restaurant.  "I get up and go to work every day," he said.

Six others have been arrested so far in the alleged high-stakes dogfighting operation, which authorities say involves 55 people.

Officials are searching for 47 others who have been indicted on charges related to the suspected ring, said Lisa Block, a spokeswoman with the Department of Public Safety, which investigated the case.

The 17-month investigation was headed by the Texas Department of Public Safety's Criminal Intelligence Service office in Houston.

Undercover officers infiltrated the ring and watched some of the dogfights, which took place weekly or twice a month at eight secluded locations in Harris County, authorities said.

Bets on one fight totaled $80,000, investigators said, and it was common for a participant to pay $500 to $1,000 for a single bout.

The Raid follows largest undercover dogfight sting in U.S. history:

A non-descript warehouse on the east side of Houston has been the scene of brutal and bloody dogfights every week for the past eight months.

“A dog show, a dog fight or whatever you want to call it, is the Saturday night poker game for hard core criminals,” said Sgt. Manning, of the DPS Criminal Intelligence Service.

Sgt. Manning asked us not to use his first name because of undercover nature of his job. He and another DPS investigator have spent the last 15 months infiltrating the seedy world of dogfighting in Houston.

“It’s the largest undercover dogfighting operation in the country,” said Assistant Harris Co. D.A. Belinda Smith. “And nothing like this has ever been done in Houston, or in Texas.”

After gaining the trust of some key “dog men, “ as they refer to themselves, Manning and his partner set up shop in an east Houston warehouse where they staged “dog shows” virtually every weekend.

“We’re talking big money. Several thousand dollars per fight,” said Manning. “We’ve heard stories of dog fights from hundreds of thousands into the millions of dollars.”

Also surprising: the broad spectrum of the people who showed up.  “We’ve got everything from a school teacher with no criminal history whatsoever, to several individuals in the oil industry,” said Manning. "We have individuals who’ve been arrested for capital murder, narcotics dealers and bank robbers. It truly reaches across all boundaries.”

  (Photo courtesy of TXCN)  These puppies were among 14 dogs seized from one northeast Houston property.

The undercover agents took some disturbing video of the dogfights.  "What you see is animals bloodied, battered and bruised screaming in pain," Smith said. "Animals that are staggering in the ring. Other animals who are trying to climb out of the ring."  "You see these animals suffering. You hear their suffering, but you also hear these people screaming in delight to their despair," Manning said. "They have some serious moral issues."

After all is said and done, authorities expect to arrest 85 people in multiple counties on over 155 felony charges.

They will also seize hundreds of dogs with help from the Houston Humane Society and the Houston SPCA.

11 News went along with law officers for the busts Friday morning and was there when a DPS SWAT team swarmed a northeast Harris County property.

The suspect's wakeup call came in the form of a noise flash diversion. And from the looks of Donald Wayne Woods, still clad in pajama bottoms, it was a wakeup call he wasn’t expecting.

Officers arrested Woods on felony dogfighting charges and seized 10 dogs and four puppies from the property.

  (Photo courtesy of TXCN)  It was the first of many raids to take place.

The investigation, called Operation Dead Game, was a joint effort between DPS, the USDA and the Harris County District Attorney’s office.

Update 1/27/09:  A reward is being offered to aid in the search for a 25-year-old man accused of participating in two dogfights in the Houston area last year.

  (Photo courtesy of Houston Crime Stoppers)  Jeremy Bryant Booker was indicted on two counts of dogfighting after an investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, authorities said.

Investigators said they found that Booker had put dogs in fights on March 15 and April 5, 2008, in the Houston and Harris County area.

A Harris County grand jury indicted Booker on Nov. 14 and bail was set at $2,000 on each charge, but authorities have not been able to locate him.  The warrant #'s are 1191574 and 1191575.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to Booker’s arrest. Anyone with information can call 713-222-TIPS (8477) or submit information online at www.crime-stoppers.org.

All callers remain anonymous.

Update 2/4/09:  The following people have been charged and/or arrested for dogfighting.

Herman Adams
» Latisha Adidi
» Teresa Allen
» Jay Andrews
» Sterling Bates
» Robert Beasley
» Jeremy Booker
» Edwin Bradley
» Rudy Cantrelle
» Terrence Casey
» Michael Ceaser
» Patrick Charbonneau
» Cedric Cleveland
» Christopher Cooper
» Jason Duncker
» Darrick Ford
» Fredrick Ford
» Stanley Foster
» George Franklin
» Pierre Hamilton
» Eugene Hickman
» Ellis Wayne Island, Jr.
» Masud Jahi
» Harold Jeffrey
» Terrence Jenkins
» Charles Johnson
» Troy Lee
» Bridgette Massey
» Lorenzo Moore
» Jerrick Mosley
» Ronald Munerlyn
» Albert Ramirez
» Alfred Ramirez
» Edward Ramirez
» George Ramirez
» Jermaine Rice
» Kevin Rogers
» Robert Lee Rogers
» James Davinci Ross
» DeCarlo Scott
» Roderick Spencer
» Benjamin Stanforth
» William Stanforth
» Jonathan Starling
» James Turner
» Kenneth Walker
» Donnie Watson
» Phil White
» Gregory Wilson
» Donald Wayne Woods

Reference:

KHOU-TV

The Houston Chronicle

Harris County Sheriff's Office

Houston Crime Stoppers

TXCN

KHOU

Houston Community Newspapers