Sun coverage: Dogfighting in Baltimore

In underworld of drugs and violence, pit bulls can be as menacing as their owners
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Dogfight 'culture' reaches to Baltimore

Somewhere in Baltimore this weekend, men will probably herd two pit bulls, both heavily muscled from weight training and both driven mad by recent starvation, into an abandoned field or the cellar of a vacant rowhouse. They'll toss another, weaker animal - a cat, rabbit or maybe a blinded dog - in between the canine gladiators and then set them loose to tear one another apart.

City plans to follow dogs to criminals

The four pit bulls were kept in a cramped backyard and tethered with heavy chains. As animal enforcement officer Ricky Martin approached the yard, the dogs barked and growled. Two of them had open wounds, evidence, Martin said, that they had been used in an organized dogfight. He also noted smears of dried blood inside the dogs' shelters.

Putting a leash on dogfighting

When police officers burst into a West Baltimore Street rowhouse on a hot August afternoon, their target was a suspected drug dealer, and the raid yielded a stash of cocaine, heroin gel caps and marijuana. But they found much more: a loaded revolver as well as two pit bull terriers and the weights, chains, homemade harness and other equipment that are telltale signs of dogfighting.

Cruel sport hides in shadows

The arrests of two Severna Park residents on dogfighting charges were unusual, but officials say they were not the first signs that the blood sport takes place in Anne Arundel County.

Proposal takes aim at pit bull maulings

Dominic Solesky was playing tag behind his family's Towson rowhouse on a spring afternoon when he heard his friend scream. The 10-year-old boy remembers running down the alley to help his pal. He heard a rattle from a nearby cage -- and then saw a brawny dog jump a fence and head his way.

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