A 52-year-old Detroit man suspected of breeding and training pit bulls for fighting was recently on the receiving end of some vigilante justice that may or may not have been related to the violent manner in which he earned his living.
According to WJBK, the man was approached on his property by three armed and masked men who tied him up, tortured and severely beat him, including cutting off his ear, before ultimately robbing him and making their escape.
Law enforcement reported recovering more than a dozen dogs of the controversial breed from the man’s basement, as well as 16 others chained up outside on the man’s poorly maintained property.
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Sadly, it has been discovered that the man owned multiple properties throughout the city, several others of which have numerous dogs present in what was believed to be a sophisticated and well-organized dog breeding, training and fighting operation.
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Of course, the man’s family claimed that he is not involved in dog fighting at all, and merely runs a simple breeding operation. They maintained that the man was targeted and attacked for personal reasons having nothing to do with the dogs or they way he treated them.
“My cousin’s not a small man, you know what I’m saying. They knew what they were doing,” said Marty Johnson, cousin of the suspected dog fighter. “They tied him up; they beat him up pretty bad; broke ribs; broke fingers; stabbed him with ice pics; cut his ear off. It was just messed up.”
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Johnson went on to describe how the attackers had leveled violent threats at the rest of the man’s family, including his wife and daughter.
“You can make all the accusations you want — it is not a dog fighting ring. He loves his dogs,” Johnson added.
The man’s brother, who wished to remain anonymous, also attempted to dispel the notion that his brother was involved in a dog fighting ring, saying, “No, he don’t fight dogs. He breeds dogs. He has a lot of dogs. He’s been like that since we were kids.”
The man was transported to a hospital to be treated for his injuries while police continued to investigate the matter.
In the meantime, the man faced potential misdemeanor charges for blight and the state of his property, not to mention possible charges related to the condition of the dogs and the treatment they have received.
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It is quite possible that the attackers were merely opportunistic thugs robbing a man that they knew had money, and the incident had nothing to do with his dogs — though it is also possible that the attack was directly related to his alleged dog fighting ring.
Whether those attackers were dispensing some brutal vigilante justice for his mistreatment of the animals, or perhaps gaining retribution after having been cheated or on the losing end of a dog fight, we may never know.
What we do know is that this man’s operation has now been exposed to the public, hopefully allowing real justice to make things right for the poor animals stuck in a horrible situation.
H/T Examiner
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