After what is being called the largest dog fighting operation in South Carolina history, more than 300 dogs were rescued and 20 people were taken into custody.
In a press release issued MondayThe DOJ said over the weekend dozens of warrants were executed by more than 60 federal agents and state police officers.
Authorities stopped a dog fight in Richland County on Saturday. On Sunday, they executed 23 search warrants at properties that have “known dog fighting kennels” or are “related to dog fighting”.
During the actions, 305 dogs were saved. At least 275 of them were used in combat, according to authorities. Twenty people were also arrested on charges of animal cruelty and dog fighting.
In the same news release, the Justice Department also said police seized about 30 guns, $40,000 in cash and evidence of dog fighting. The operation “is believed to be the largest takedown of a dog fighting operation in South Carolina history,” the DOJ said.
In a statement sent to PEOPLE, the Humane Society said that during Sunday’s search, dogs were found to be living in outdoor kennels. Some of them were also tied up and only had “makeshift shelters” to keep them dry when it rained.
The dogs looked too they were not getting enough food or watereven though it was a sunny and hot day, the Humane Society said in a press release.
The agency added that many of the dogs also suffered “severe scarring as well as festering open wounds, lacerations and abscesses”.
After being “opened or chained to trees in the forest,” many of the dogs had serious wounds that needed immediate care.
Some of the dogs were happy to see the first responders and greeted them by wagging their tails and licking them. However, the Humane Society said some of the dogs were not so happy to see them and instead looked at them “reluctantly”.
“It’s really troubling to come across dogs that are badly injured but are chained to trees or left to lie in a kennel instead of getting the care they desperately need,” said Adam Parascandola, vice president of the animal rescue team to the Humane Society of the United States. “Thank you to all the agencies that stepped in on behalf of these dogs, this is the last day they will have to live like this.”
“Forcing dogs to fight, often to the death, for the pleasure of others is not only a federal crime, but it is also cruel, sadistic, and can provide a haven for other illegal activities involving drugs and firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs in the DOJ release.
The Animal Welfare Act says that anyone who fights dogs or owns, trains, sells, buys, supplies, receives or transports dogs that are intended to be used in dog fighting can get up to five years in federal prison for a crime.
According to the Humane Society, the dogs involved in the operation are currently being treated at undisclosed locations.
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