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'via Blog this'Incident Date: Sunday, Jul 22, 2007
County: Cook
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available
Alleged:
» Brian James Bailey - Convicted
» Tony Clinton Self
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available
Alleged:
» Brian James Bailey - Convicted
» Tony Clinton Self
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
An anonymous tip led police in southwest suburban Burbank to a van full of caged, lethargic dogs stacked atop one another and headed to dog fights across the country.
The four pit bull terrier puppies near death's door and eight emaciated and thirsty adult pit bulls were taken Sunday to the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, police said.
The two men in the panel van, accused of transporting the dogs, were taken to jail where they remained Wednesday, unable to post $150,000 bail each, authorities said.
Ford said some of the dogs suffered burns on their paws from standing in their own urine, and some of the dogs were nearly blind.
"The puppies they had to give IVs to right away, or they would have been dead in a few hours," Ford said.
The dogs never were let out of their cages during transport and were left standing in their own waste, he said.
Brian James Bailey, 48, of Marion, Texas, and Tony Self, 35, of Stone Mountain, Ga., were charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty and dog fighting, police said.
"According to their logs, they travel throughout the country, mostly the east, picking up and dropping off the dogs for fighting," Ford said. "There's no way he's getting them back."
The men had made a stop at a Chicago location prior to stopping to refuel at a Burbank gas station about 8:30 p.m., Ford said. It was unclear if the men were going to make other stops in the area, he said.
Elliott Serrano, community outreach specialist with the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago, said many gamble on dog fights.
"The allure of dog fighting is the excitement and the violence," he said. "It triggers off that hormone in the brain that when you see live combat, it gives you a thrill."
Serrano compared dog fighting to a "last man standing match."
"In a fight, the animals are compelled to brutalize each other until their opponent is no longer able to fight," he said.
Dog fighting in Chicago is becoming associated with a culture of drugs and gangs. But the activity has existed for hundreds of years.
"It is a culture. It is a way of life to a lot of these folks," he said. "Some people get into dog fighting because that's their way of exerting power and control and getting what they perceive as respect."
Bailey has been in similar trouble in Texas where he had 88 pit bulls seized at the site of a dog fight on his property in Marion, Texas, in 2005, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas.
Of those dogs, at least 40 of the adults showed signs that they were used or trained to fight, the news release said, and they were destroyed.
The appropriate fate of pit bulls who have been trained for fighting is a topic for debate among animal rescuers and anti-cruelty advocates, Serrano said.
The Anti-Cruelty Society would never try to adopt out a pit bull used in fighting. But rescuers have taken dogs from fighting situations and tried to find homes for them.
"It's the classic nature versus nurture argument," he said.
The four pit bull terrier puppies near death's door and eight emaciated and thirsty adult pit bulls were taken Sunday to the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, police said.
The two men in the panel van, accused of transporting the dogs, were taken to jail where they remained Wednesday, unable to post $150,000 bail each, authorities said.
Ford said some of the dogs suffered burns on their paws from standing in their own urine, and some of the dogs were nearly blind.
"The puppies they had to give IVs to right away, or they would have been dead in a few hours," Ford said.
The dogs never were let out of their cages during transport and were left standing in their own waste, he said.
Brian James Bailey, 48, of Marion, Texas, and Tony Self, 35, of Stone Mountain, Ga., were charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty and dog fighting, police said.
"According to their logs, they travel throughout the country, mostly the east, picking up and dropping off the dogs for fighting," Ford said. "There's no way he's getting them back."
The men had made a stop at a Chicago location prior to stopping to refuel at a Burbank gas station about 8:30 p.m., Ford said. It was unclear if the men were going to make other stops in the area, he said.
Elliott Serrano, community outreach specialist with the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago, said many gamble on dog fights.
"The allure of dog fighting is the excitement and the violence," he said. "It triggers off that hormone in the brain that when you see live combat, it gives you a thrill."
Serrano compared dog fighting to a "last man standing match."
"In a fight, the animals are compelled to brutalize each other until their opponent is no longer able to fight," he said.
Dog fighting in Chicago is becoming associated with a culture of drugs and gangs. But the activity has existed for hundreds of years.
"It is a culture. It is a way of life to a lot of these folks," he said. "Some people get into dog fighting because that's their way of exerting power and control and getting what they perceive as respect."
Bailey has been in similar trouble in Texas where he had 88 pit bulls seized at the site of a dog fight on his property in Marion, Texas, in 2005, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas.
Of those dogs, at least 40 of the adults showed signs that they were used or trained to fight, the news release said, and they were destroyed.
The appropriate fate of pit bulls who have been trained for fighting is a topic for debate among animal rescuers and anti-cruelty advocates, Serrano said.
The Anti-Cruelty Society would never try to adopt out a pit bull used in fighting. But rescuers have taken dogs from fighting situations and tried to find homes for them.
"It's the classic nature versus nurture argument," he said.
Case Updates
| A Texan arrested in Burbank this summer and accused of trucking pit bulls across the country for dogfights pleaded guilty today. Brian Bailey, 48, of Marion, Texas, was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Charges are still pending against Tony Self, 35, of Stone Mountain, Ga. The two were arrested July 22 at a gas station after getting an anonymous tip. The panel van the pair were driving contained four pit bulls close to death and eight emaciated adult breeder pit bulls, police said. Some had burns from standing in their own urine, while others were nearly blind. A log found in the van suggested the men had traveled across the nation, delivering dogs to breed for fighting, Cook County prosecutors said. Both men were charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty and dogfighting. The dogs later were put up for adoption. Of the 88 dogs removed from his home in 2005, 40 had to be killed because of their extensive involvement in fights, authorities said. Self, who is free on $150,000 bond, has pleaded innocent to all charges. |
| Source: Daily Southtown - Oct 19, 2007 Update posted on Oct 20, 2007 - 5:19PM |
| On Friday, the day two sets of sad puppy dog eyes stared out from the front pages of the Sun-Times and the Daily Southtown, the shelter was deluged with calls from people wanting to adopt the pups, who had been saved by police from a dog-fighting future. Four extra people were brought in to work the shelter's phones and take names and numbers. "The phone's been ringing off the wall," said Linda Estrada, the no-kill shelter's director. "That front page, that was the best looking picture I've ever seen. That really put it to the point." The pups -- Bella and Spanky -- won't be ready for adoption for a few weeks, but some visitors to the shelter Friday didn't leave empty-handed. Several ended up adopting kittens instead. "Their hearts felt for the kittens," Estrada said. "They didn't find the dogs they wanted and ended up adopting kittens. They're saving a life." The two American Staffordshire terriers, found starving and left to eat and drink their own waste, were among 12 dogs seized by Burbank police after an anonymous tip. All 12 were being housed in a van, allegedly by two out-of-state men now charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty and dog fighting. One of the men once had 88 pit bulls seized at the site of a dog fight at his Texas home, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Texas. There were four puppies in the van, including Bella and Spanky. The four were apparently being raised for dog fighting. The eight adult dogs found were breeders, Estrada said. All of the puppies are healthy enough for adoption. And all but one or two of the adults are gentle enough to adopt. The others will probably need to be euthanized, she said. Callers to the Animal Welfare League on Friday were told that the seized dogs need to stay for a few weeks -- but not to forget about the others at the 600-cage shelter. "We're telling them they're not ready to go yet, but we have a lot of other dogs -- puppies and dogs that need homes," she said. "It's really helping us to get animals adopted and moved out of here." The shelter can be reached at (708) 636-8586. |
| Source: Chicago Sun-Times - July 28, 2007 Update posted on Jul 28, 2007 - 11:26AM |
References
- CBS News - July 26, 2007
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For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.
For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.
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