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It was a gruesome sight:
Chains dangling from the ceiling from which bait animals had been suspended
for the
training of fighting dogs.
Dogs or cats, either strays or stolen pets, were hung from the chains
and the fighting dogs
goaded into lunging at them and ripping them apart, officials said.
The discovery was made yesterday when agents of the Pennsylvania SPCA raided
an
abandoned house on Cosgrove Street near Belfield Avenue in Germantown.
Officials said
it might have been a "stash house" for fighting dogs.
The agents seized 11 adult pit bulls and two puppies in the raid.
Officials said the animals might have been held there for owners who took
them off to fight
at such locations as the garage building raided Saturday night by police
at 19th and Norris
streets, North Philadelphia, where dog fights were being held.
In fact, it was a tip from someone who knew that one of the men arrested
in the raid kept
dogs in the abandoned house that sent the SPCA to the building.
Agents also found "medical kits" containing antibiotics and syringes used
to treat dogs
wounded in fighting.
George Stem, director of animal control and investigations for the SPCA,
said the animals
found yesterday didn't have open wounds but some bore the scars of old
bites, some
scabbed over.
One of the puppies had mange and was so sick and emaciated it had to
be euthanized
immediately, Stem said.
"It could be a stash house for the animals, after they had been fought
because of the
medical kits found there," Stem said. "Or they could simply be dogs belonging
to the
person who kept them there."
In the Saturday night raid, 88 people were arrested, including two off-duty
police officers,
and 11 pit bulls and a Rottweiler were seized.
The arrested cops were identified as Isaac Fontaine, a 10-year veteran
assigned to
the 5th District, and Craig E. Thomas, a two-year veteran assigned to the
35th District. They were suspended with intent to dismiss.
At a press conference in front of Police Headquarters yesterday, Lt. Joseph
Lynch, of
East Detectives, said the raid stemmed from a tip provided by an FBI informant,
who told
them Friday of a dogfight planned for Saturday night in the garage building.
The raiders waited for the dogfights to begin, then secured the building
around 11
Saturday night and arrested all the people inside, Lynch said.
The building is owned by John Scanlan, a Center City businessman, who said
in a phone
interview that he rented it about six months ago to a well-dressed man
who said he wanted
to use it as an auto-repair garage.
Scanlan said he knew nothing about dog fights.
"By law I couldn't refuse him," said Scanlan.
"I thought he was too well-dressed to be a mechanic, but he said he had
a couple guys
working for him."
by Gloria Campisi and Bob Warner Daily News Staff Writers
