A 52-year-old dog breeder based in Detroit found himself in quite a predicament last week. As he was feeding his dogs at one of his houses in Detroit, he was confronted by three armed and masked men. According to reports, the man was later found tied up, tortured, severely beaten, and without one of his ears. The man, who was allegedly breeding dogs under terrible conditions, may have been training them for dog fighting.
Police say his attack may have been in retaliation for the breeding of expensive blue pit bulls in deplorable conditions. Police also confirmed that the man was targeted because of the sophistication of his breeding operation. The attackers may have very well been angry and/or unsatisfied former clients. It’s apparent that many people, including neighbors, believe the man breeds the dogs for fighting purposes.
The man’s family says he was forced inside the home, tied up along with two of his tenants, then he was beaten repeatedly while the attackers demanded money.
“My cousin’s not a small man, you know what I’m saying. They knew what they were doing,” says Marty Johnson, the victim’s cousin. “They tied him up; they beat him up pretty bad; broke ribs; broke fingers; stabbed him with ice pics; cut his ear off. It was just messed up.”
“He has a wife; he has family; he has kids,” says Johnson. “They made an accusation, talking about, ‘If we catch your wife and daughter, we are raping them. We’re going to do this, we’re going to do that.’ I mean, c’mon.”
A local Fox News affiliate counted a minimum of 16 pit bulls that were gaunt in appearance and living in filth outside the residence; some of the dogs were tied up with chains. There was also more than a dozen dogs living in the basement of the home that were removed from the home by Animal Control. The dog breeder also owns other properties where he breeds dogs, as well.
The man’s family denies all accusations of dog fighting. They claim that he’s only a breeder who loves all of his dogs very much. The victim’s brother, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “No, he don’t [sic] fight dogs. He breeds dogs. He has a lot of dogs. He’s been like that since we were kids.”
The masked suspects are still at large. They made off with the dog breeder’s minivan and his ear.
