Couple accused of dog fights

A Northland couple have been accused of operating an illegal dog-fighting ring at their home, where an SPCA inspector found starved pitbull terriers, carpet stained with blood and a dog-fighting arena hidden under the house.

The 33-year-old unemployed man and his 31-year-old partner are defending the dog-fighting charges in a four-day hearing at the Kaikohe District Court.

The charges come after SPCA inspector Jim Boyd executed a search warrant and took nine dogs from their rural Whangarei home in September 2001.

Mr Boyd said some of the dogs, mostly pitbull terriers, were emaciated. One had a rotten jaw and had to be destroyed.

Apart from severely skinny dogs he found chained up at the bottom of a hill, he also discovered a number of items believed to be linked to dog fighting. Mr Boyd told the hearing he found a square piece of carpet he understood was used for the fights.

He alleged that there was so much blood on the carpet it had turned the clay underneath it pink.

Early in the hearing, he described other items he found, such as dressing packs suitable for treating dog-bite injuries, the Square Circle magazine, an underground publication for the dog-fighting fraternity, and trophies.

One of the trophies was engraved with the words "Ladies Night Out - Best In Show", which allegedly referred to a well-known bitches-only fighting convention.

Another trophy was engraved with the words "J.C. Convention, Best In Show", allegedly a reference to another well-known dog-fighting competition.

The defendants, who have name suppression, are representing themselves in court. They have pleaded not guilty to charges including owning, keeping, or breeding pitbull terrier dogs for fighting, using a place for animal fights and failing to provide for the physical and behavioural needs of eight pitbull terrier dogs and a cattle dog.

Yesterday, the 31-year-old woman defendant said that Mr Boyd had no witnesses who could say they saw any organised dog-fighting taking place at her home.

All of Mr Boyd's evidence was circumstantial, she said.

Mr Boyd said testing showed that the blood on the carpet and in the alleged dog-fighting arena was dog's blood.

He said that months before he searched the couple's property, a person had phoned to tell him a dog fight was under way there.

The hearing continues next month.