[Purple]

Ocala Family Fighting to End Dog Fighting on Their Property
BY JOE VANHOOSE

OCALA | Carol Jordan said she knows her nephew is hosting dog fights on the family property. She and her brother have seen the fighting ring and a few dogs that have fought in that ring.

Earlier this week, while walking the property, she found more evidence. Lying next to a small mound of dirt was a bone - a rib, too small to be a human rib. A quick dig revealed another, then another.

"Oh my God," Jordan said, her voice rising. "Those look like dog bones."
Marion County Animal Control officials want to talk to Jordan's nephew, Willie Lee Lewis Jr., 36, whom they think has been hosting dog fights regularly. As of Thursday afternoon, Lewis could not be reached for comment for this story.

The latest episode came Saturday evening. An anonymous phone call led Marion County Sheriff's officials to the house at 5636 N.W. 73rd Place, which is west of Interstate 75 and south of State Road 326.
Deputies found a dog-fighting ring and seven pit bulls with scars and scratches. A few had fresh wounds.

They did not find Lewis, who Jordan says has ran pit bull fights out of the same location for about two years.
"We never wanted to be a part of it," Jordan said. "But we haven't been able to stop him.

"The police, animal control, they've both been out here. Animal control has even taken some of the dogs, but that hasn't stopped him."
There's not much the Sheriff's Office can do, agency spokesman James Pogue said. When deputies arrived about 6 p.m. Saturday, only the dogs remained at the site.

"We have to catch them in the act of dog fighting," Pogue said. "Otherwise, we really can't arrest anyone."

Deputy Matthew Bowers wrote that he found a fighting pit complete with carpet and numbered wood panels in front of the yellow and brown home. He saw seven dogs, many of which had "scaring on their facial area" and appeared to be malnourished.

"One particular pit bull dog was bleeding from its facial area," Bowers wrote, "with a possible recent wound from dog fighting."
Marion County Animal Control arrived Saturday evening to pick up three of the pit bulls. They didn't have enough tranquilizers for the other four.

http://www.theledger.com/article/200...803140397/1004