DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Addressing the discovery as “a deeply unsettling and heart-wrenching event,” Daytona Beach police shared a news release Friday describing officers’ uncovering of an alleged dog fighting ring earlier this week at a home in Madison Heights.
Police around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday responded to a residence along Iowa Street in reference to multiple anonymous tips regarding dog fighting activities, as well as of the “unimaginable, horrific conditions” that dogs were said to be living in at the home, the release states.
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Officers noticed several dogs right away that bore injuries at differing stages of healing, some still bloodied, and rapidly secured a search warrant for the property, according to the Daytona Beach Police Department.
Detectives worked in coordination with members of the Halifax Humane Society and American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to execute the search warrant, police said. Eight dogs were found with signs of abuse that included “numerous scars and fresh injuries indicative of dog fighting,” as well as the suspected remains of a ninth dog, the release states.
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Further evidence recovered from inside of the home bolstered the department’s allegations of illegal activity, such as a ledger with notes about dog fighting, certificates from the American Dog Breeder Association, guns, ammunition and bottles of wound treatment, according to the release.
What officers presumed to be a “dog fighting pit” was also located at the residence, constructed with large pieces of carpet or matting that had become “heavily stained with what appeared to be blood,” police said.
No arrests have been made at the time of this report.
Daytona Beach police are still investigating.
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