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Trial starts today for man accused of fighting dogs |
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Tuesday, 19 August 2008 |
Was one of three arrested in January raid of ring
The jury trial for one of three people arrested in the January raid of a dogfighting ring began today in Saline County Circuit Court.
Patrick Janiszewski, 25, of Mabelvale faces 27 felony counts of dogfighting and 27 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals.
Janiszewski was arrested at his job in Little Rock on Jan. 11 in connection with a dogfighting ring raid in northeast Saline County on Jan. 3.
Circuit Judge Grisham Phillips is presiding over the trial. Prosecuting Attorney Ken Casady said the trial could last until Thursday.
The Saline County Sheriff’s Office, the Humane Society of Pulaski County and the Humane Society of the United States conducted a six-month investigation into a possible dogfighting ring in 2007.
In January, 36 pit bull dogs were seized from residences at 15001 Gingerbread Lane and 23001 U.S. 167 in the East End community.
Jay Sabatucci, regional coordinator for the Humane Society of the United States, helped local authorities determine whether the residences were being used to train and fight dogs. He told officers that he believed there was enough evidence to support the theory that there are illegal dogfighting rings in Saline County.
“If you go out to those locations, you’ll find treadmills and slapmills,” Sabatucci said in January.
“There will be what we call spring poles, which are hides tied to a tree or ropes that animals will grab with their mouths and spring up and down with ... one of the facilities actually had a [dogfighting] pit with carpet with what appeared to be blood on it and it was a collapsable pit. They had beak sticks/parking sticks with what appeared to be blood on them, which is what they use to open the animals jaws during the fight when they get hung up.”
Sabatucci also said the dogs “were horribly scarred,” a sign he said is “indicative of dogfighting.”
Sheriff Phil Mask said his office wants to stop dogfighting in Saline County.
“Some of those dogs were sickly,” Mask said. “They were in need of medical treatment, their faces had dog bites and [one dog] had an eye taken out ... we were able to get them treatment and get them back to their health. Hopefully, we’ll put a dent in our community dogfighting. We do take this seriously and we are going to continue to follow up.”
Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Frost said he found a “break stick ... with what appeared to be an actual canine tooth imbedded in the stick.”
Frost said that even though deputies received tips from people near the residences that were raided, the investigation took a long time because people involved in dogfighting are “very tight-lipped” about any illegal activities.
He said that by the time authorities find out about dogfighting rings, there isn’t sufficient time to assemble the manpower to raid a facility. People involved in the activity will disburse before officers get close to the area, he said.
“It is a very closed society and it is hard to be able to know when and where the dogfighting is occurring,” Frost said.
“Many times, we don’t know until the day of the dogfight and there is not enough time to get a search warrant. We are talking about a large amount of money, guns and drugs probably being involved in it.”
Janiszewski was the first person arrested in connection with the raid. Authorities later arrested Kenny J. Mahomes, 43, of 23001 U.S. 167 and Chris A. Carter, 32, of 15001 Gingerbread Lane.
Mahomes is scheduled to appear before Circuit Judge Gary Arnold on Oct. 7 and Carter will appear before Judge Phillips on Sept. 30.
Dogfighting is illegal in all North American countries and is a felony in 48 states, including Arkansas, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
According to Arkansas law, it is a misdemeanor to be a spectator at a dogfighting event.
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