Raids in 6 States Show Dogfighting Is Widespread

In this Wednesday July 8, 2009 photo, dogs are taken from a St. Louis location by Humane Society...

In this Wednesday July 8, 2009 photo, dogs are taken from a St. Louis location by Humane Society officials. The Humane Society of Missouri says it would welcome help as it shelters about 300 dogs that were seized in raids of dogfighting operations in Missouri and Illinois. The dogs were among 350 mostly American Pit Bull Terrier dogs seized during raids in five states Wednesday. (AP Photo/The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Emily Rasinski)

(AP)

The arrests this week of a Little League coach, a registered nurse and a teacher during the largest coordinated raids on dogfighting in U.S. history confirm the shadowy blood sport is alive and well despite tough laws across the country.

More than 400 dogs, including some about to give birth to puppies, were rescued in the raids by federal, state and local authorities Wednesday and Thursday in six states: Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Mississippi, officials said.

U.S. attorneys in several states accused 26 people of cruelties that included shooting dogs in the head when they didn't fight well, then throwing their carcasses into a river or burning them in a barrel.

The sport, often carried out in back alley garages or rural barns, has come under renewed scrutiny after NFL star Michael Vick was sentenced to prison after his 2007 dogfighting conviction. Dogfighting is a felony in all 50 states, and in recent years, the federal government made it a felony to train, possess or fight dogs.

But that hasn't stopped people from participating in the sport. Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said the public can "definitely expect more" arrests and raids, because "dogfighting remains a distressingly widespread activity."

During raids on Wednesday in Texas, federal authorities seized nine pit bulls in rural Panola County and charged nine people, including a 34-year-old Little League coach, with involvement in an interstate dogfighting ring.

Karl Courtney, of the eastern Texas town of Beckville pleaded not guilty, said his attorney David Moore, who described his client as a "well-respected business owner." His brother, Chase Courtney, 26, of the nearby town of Carthage, also was arrested, but a phone number or attorney for him could not be found.

Cris Bottcher, a 48-year-old registered nurse at a community hospital in Bethany, Mo., also was arrested Wednesday in western Missouri and accused of shooting underperforming dogs and putting their carcasses in plastic containers outside a garage, according to a federal indictment.