Fighting (dog)
Authorities Suspect A Dogfighting Operation But Did Not Catch Anyone In The Act At The Orlando Home
January 11, 2001
By Doris Bloodsworth of The Sentinel Staff
After finding a dead pit-bull puppy and four other injured dogs, Orange County deputies arrested a Pine Hills man Wednesday in what they think was the second dogfighting operation discovered in Central Florida in less than a week.
Authorities said they think Keith Fleming, 30, of 1924 Teakwood Drive, used his back yard for dog fights -- an illegal, bloody sport that pits two dogs against each other until one dies or can no longer continue.
Deputies said a barricaded section of the yard was likely used for the fights. However, because no one was home at the time deputies found the animals, authorities could only charge Fleming with animal cruelty.
Orange sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Angelo Nieves said a deputy on routine patrol along Teakwood Drive heard yelping Wednesday afternoon. When the deputy looked into the back yard, he saw one dog dead and another almost killed, Nieves said. "One dog had another by the throat," Nieves said.
The officer used pepper spray and his baton, and was able to separate the pit bulls with the help of a second deputy.
Authorities said the killer dog had broken loose from one of the heavy logging chains used to keep the dogs tied up. There were 11 dogs, but six were left behind because they were unharmed.
Neighborhood children gasped as a Humane Society official carried the dead puppy in his arms out to a waiting truck. Officers took four other wounded dogs to a veterinarian. Details on their condition weren't available Wednesday night.
Danette Jarrett, the homeowner who lives with Fleming, denied that the dogs were trained to fight. But authorities said they did not believe her because the dogs had both old and new wounds on them.
"This looks like a regular dogfighting business,'' Nieves said.
Deputies said they were upset at leaving six of the dogs behind, but they were not legally allowed to take them because they seemed OK.
"I wish they would let me buy one of the puppies," said Deputy Kevin Homes. "It would be a lot better off."
