CLEVELAND — The recent indictment of three Cleveland men shows that dog fighting is an ongoing, underground bloodsport that is inhumane and illegal.
It's the fourth animal cruelty case in Cuyahoga County in about a month. Animal activists say there are still many more cases like it that go undetected.
"Just horrific. Horrific that people could torture these animals to that point," said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley.
Maurice Preston, Peter Preston, and Jerome Davis face felony charges of dog fighting and animal cruelty. Police found a dog treadmill and medications commonly used in dog fighting when they conducted a search of their home.
"They train the dogs to be bigger, badder, aggressive, more muscular, and they could be treating them with steroids as part of that training," said Cleveland APL President and CEO Sharon Harvey.
Police also found firearms inside the home which are usually associated with dog fighting and gambling because of potentially large amounts of cash that exchange hands.
"These are exploitive events that are pitting animal against animal in bloody violence," Harvey said.