The story out of Baltimore County is shocking: an experienced dog groomer and vet technician accused by police of being involved in a dog fighting ring. Police raided a home on Lange Street as part of a drug investigation and say they found more than they bargained for (picture at left):
They allege the kitchen had been turned into a virtual medical clinic with tubs of medication, gauze and other medical supplies. Most, they said, had been taken from the suspect's current and previous employers. Cops said they found a dog collar with bite marks and shackles with weights, and they said a treadmill was used to train the pit bulls. They said it appeared the fenced-in back yard was the arena as most of the grass had been torn up.
Police arrested three people, including the groomer, Nicole Marie Caruso, a popular groomer at the SoBo Dog Day Care in South Baltimore's Locust Point.
But colleagues there and at her former job, the Animal Medical Clinic in Timonium, had nothing but good comments about Caruso (at left) and expressed doubt that police had the story straight. Caruso, they told me, is an avid animal rights activist who took in strays and treated her six pit bulls as if they were her children. Customers from Towson drove to Locust Point just so she could take care of their dogs.
Police found a lot of questionable things in Caruso's town house (including, they said, drugs and evidence that her roommates were selling marijuana in the neighborhood) but they don't prove an organized dog fighting ring. They charged her and her boyfriend with possession of animals with the intent to train for fighting.
Friends and co-workers say Caruso at worst became entangled with some questionable roommates and a boyfriend with a criminal record and was trying to get them out of her home and herself out of the troubled relationship. Was the treadmill used to train dogs to fight or did Caruso buy it for $30 off Craigslis to lose weight? Was the address book police found in a kitchen drawer -- with names of people and names of their animals -- evidence of a dog fighting ring or simply Caruso's client list for grooming?
Friends said her dogs fought each other while playing in the backyard, and that Caruso used her medicine and skills to patch them up. But police seized a lot of drugs that seems to indicate a full-scale vet shop in the home indicative of more than treating a few scars. One suspect told police that Caruso would give dogs IV drips of saline.
Caruso and her family declined to talk. We'll see how this case unfolds.
Here is what Baltimore County police said they found inside the home, according to charging documents filed in court:
Three pit bulls.
14 small baggies of greenish brown vegetable matter suspected to be marijuana. They were in a white change purse on a dresser in the second floor master bedroom.
Several unused Ziploc baggies from a box in the top of the dresser in the bedroom. Police believe these demonstrate the intent to package drugs for sale.
Six Percocet pills in a jewelry box in the upstairs bedroom.
A large dog collar with several bite marks that was found in the basement.
An address book with owners names and dog names in quotation marks with phone numbers, found in a drawer to the right of the kitchen sink.
Several photographs of dogs fighting and injuries, inclduing one that showed the face of a pit bull with a wound to the face and back leg, and another with teeth marks to the face, and a third with a dog with scars. They were found on a desk in the kitchen and in a bedroom closet. Police also found photos of the same gos "in good health and not injured."
A makeshift collar made out of a set of leg irons and shackles wrapped with a 2.5 poound weight, found underneath the kitchen sink.
A bulk amount of dog vaccines (Corona virus Vaccine and K9 Distemper), found in the refridgerator.
A syringe containing an uknown clear liquid in the top right kitchen drawer.
Two large Ziploc baggies with a large quantity of Prednisone-Cortical Steroid, a peach colored pill, found in a drawer next to the kitchen sink and in the basement. The drugs are used as an anti-inflammatory.
One large Ziploc baggie containing Cephalexin, a green colored pill used as an Antibiotic.
One large Ziploc baggies with Lupin, a green colored pill.
One large Ziploc bagge of Metronidzaole, also an Antibiotic.
One large Ziploc baggies of Diphenhydramine, a seditive.
One gallon of Hydrogen Peroxide.
One large tup of miscellaneous medical supplies including IV needles and IV fluids used to rehyrdrade and provide nutrients.
A trash bag of more medical supplies, including a box of sterile syringes, latex gloves and IV solutiions.
A treadmill containing several muddy paw prints on the running surface.
Numerous kennels.
Police said: "The kitchen on the second floor was set up to operate as a makeshift dog supply area where medications and other supplies were being stored."
Police also said that patrol officers heard complaints from neighbors about fighting dogs, that one complained of being bitten and another said he saw a man beat a dog with a stick in the backyard. "All of the above informatin is evidence of the intent to train, use and heal dogs for the purposes of conducting an illegal dog fighting operation," police wrote in the charging document.
Police said that one of the suspects admitted to selling marijuana in what are called "nickel bags" that go for $5 on the street. The person said he makes about $215 per ounce.