Some loose dogs in Maricopa wind up at the shelter. Some are reunited with their owners. Others are left to wander the streets. But some, sources say, are trafficked into an illegal dog fighting ring.

It wouldn’t be the first time such an enterprise was exposed in Maricopa.

Desi Remmie is a “dog lover” who claims a local couple heads a dog fighting ring just south of city limits. She said her friend was invited to a “fighting event” in October and the two began investigating the property themselves.

“The place where they train the dogs to fight is on the corner of Teel and Thunderbird [Roads] in the part of Maricopa known as Hidden Valley,” said Remmie, a Villages at Rancho El Dorado resident. “The dogs are trained using bait dogs they get for free, either by picking up dogs offered by owners giving their dogs away or picking up strays or lost pets.”

She described the man as tall and skinny and the woman as short and fat, both white, also noting they have a child who is about 9 years old. She said the two are always on the lookout for free dogs and once the bait dogs are killed during training, they are fed to the fighting dogs.

“They hold events where they fight dogs and roosters,” Remmie said.

She claims Pinal County Sheriff’s Office is aware of the operation. However, PCSO spokesperson Lauren Reimer could not confirm any reports of that type. She encouraged people with information about dog fighting to call the department and help its investigation.

“The Sheriff’s Department knows about the fighting ring but won’t remove the dogs or stop the practice unless they have video proof and are pressured to take action,” Remmie said.
Remmie cautioned the couple is dangerous.

“Be aware that they will move the operation if they feel they are being watched or outed,” Remmie said. “These people are criminals with no conscience so be careful. It is a dangerous group with a lot to lose and they will do whatever they deem necessary to protect their profit margins.”

The man in the white truck

Remmie is not the only Maricopa resident who claims to be aware of this dog and cockfighting ring, and who says she has felt unsafe coming forward about it.
In June, Rita Rou said she saw a man at Fry’s Marketplace on John Wayne Parkway wrangling two dogs.

“One was a pit bull, and the other was a medium sized dog, not a pit bull, that was obviously being used as a bait dog for dog fighting,” Rou said. “The dog was severely injured with old and new wounds. … We spotted him throwing peroxide on the dogs through the cages.”

Rou, who is from California, said dog fighting was commonplace in her state and because more people move to Maricopa from California than any other place, she wouldn’t be shocked if they brought dog fighting with them. She said there was “a big dog fighting ring” somewhere south of Maricopa.

Rou reported the man’s White GMC Sierra with a California license plate to law enforcement. Then, in August, the same pickup truck was tied to another incident involving the rescue of a bait dog.

January Harrison was driving near Hartman and Honeycutt Roads Aug. 26 when she saw a man in a truck with the same California license plate pull over and grab what she thought was a bag of trash. He proceeded to drop-kick it, but it didn’t go very far — that was when Harrison realized it was actually a live dog.

The man picked the dog up again by his tail and whirled him around in a circle before kicking him again. Harrison called out to the man, who jumped into his truck and sped off.
“And this sweet little dog just crawled right into my truck,” Harrison said, describing how petrified he was laying on her driver’s side floor, refusing to move.

Harrison took the dog to veterinarian Steve Waldo at Tempe Pet Clinic who agreed to treat the dog pro bono and told her the dog was a “bait dog” used in dog fighting. The dog — she calls him Phoenix Blue — had scars covering his neck, a ripped ear, was severely emaciated and his tail had been broken an estimated three to five times.

Phoenix Blue’s lab tests showed no major diseases, but he was struggling with refeeding syndrome and gastrointestinal symptoms due to prolonged starvation.

Harrison said she created a GoFundMe online fundraising campaign to raise money for a reward for any information that leads to the alleged abuser’s arrest and the dismantling of the dog fighting ring. At the time of publication, she had raised $1,950.

“I turned to the community for help, and tips started pouring into my inbox from local citizens and local veterinarians about a man and truck that matched who I saw in my encounter,” Harrison said. “This man is known, and it is alleged he runs a dog fighting ring right here in our community. Many people have information and have witnessed the abuse.”

She said she provided all the information she had collected to Maricopa Police Department and Animal Control, and “they are on the lookout.”

‘I’m sure it happens around here’

MPD spokesperson Monica Williams said detectives were following up with the case and there was no new information to share. Reporters were given this statement:

“Reports of animal cruelty and crimes associated with animals are taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. While there is no evidence of organized illegal dog fighting taking place in the city of Maricopa, community members are encouraged to report unlawful activity to the police department.”

Harrison warned reporters the people involved in the dog fighting ring were dangerous and will show up to people’s houses with weapons.

InMaricopa contacted every veterinarian and animal hospital in the city. Maricopa Wells Veterinary Hospital and Exceptional Pets Maricopa had not recently received any battered animals nor heard anything regarding the dog fighting ring.

Maricopa Animal Hospital and Wild West Vets did not respond to requests for comment.

InMaricopa also contacted Pinal County Animal Care and Control to see if it had recently taken in any dogs suspected to be involved in dog fighting.

“We haven’t,” said Director Audra Michael, but she said that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

“They say that the whole bait dog thing is a farce, that it’s not really true. I’ve had to watch dog fighting and it’s awful. It does happen, and I’m sure it happens around here, but we don’t really know where. They’re very careful about it; you need to know somebody and be like in the clique before they’ll let you in there.”

Jennifer Bryan, founder of Alone No More Rescue in Phoenix, said dog fighting was very rare, but what she described matched witness statements perfectly.

“If you see a dog from a dog fighting ring, there will be scars over that entire body, not just the face,” Bryan said. “To be honest, I truly don’t believe I’ve ever seen a true bait dog.”

Michael said PCACC had received reports that led to it uncovering a cockfighting ring in Coolidge, but even with photographic evidence of the man ordering gaffs — a needle-like weapon fixed to one leg of the fighting bird — in his name, it still wasn’t enough to get a conviction.

“It’s hard, it’s really hard,” Michael said. “I wish that they would have better laws, especially for animal cruelty in Arizona. And they are working on it, it’s just that the wording has to be just perfect, or the legislators aren’t going to vote for it.”

PCACC took in a dog who appeared to be used in a dog fighting ring in September 2016.

The dog was a 3-year-old blue nose pit bull-mastiff mix found in an unincorporated area of Maricopa at the intersection of Wildwood and Ralston Roads. The dog, who Pinal County Animal Care and Control named Elliot, was covered head to tail with scars.

“It was awful,” Michael recalled. “I mean this poor dog, I just felt so bad for him. He was a huge pit bull.”

The dog had tick fever, valley fever and was experiencing kidney failure. Both of his front legs had been broken and healed wrong, he was emaciated, and his tongue was mutilated preventing him from eating or drinking.

“He smelled really bad, and we couldn’t figure it out, and he wouldn’t eat,” Michael said. “Then we opened his mouth — and this was long before we had a vet on staff or anything like that — and his tongue was almost gone. I mean it was awful … and he had sores everywhere.”

It was believed Elliot was a bait dog or in a dog fighting ring, the director said. Unfortunately, Elliot died of his injuries, and no abuser was ever held accountable.

Bringing up bad memories

This is not the first time a dog fighting ring has been suspected of operating in Maricopa.
In 2008, there was believed to be one in the Homestead community. A man named Damien Hartfield was arrested and 20 dogs were rescued from his home and the John Wayne RV Park — now the Wild West Ranch and RV Resort — where fights were organized. Five dead dogs were found.

There was much evidence found that pointed to dog fighting, like chains and blood on the walls of the abandoned home where 18 of the dogs were found. Yet Hartfield only faced charges of animal cruelty and none related to staging dog fights or training dogs to kill or maim each other, simply because he had not been caught in the act, according to the narrative gathered from court records.

Remmie, Harrison and Rou, who do not know each other, all said they had the same goal in coming forward to police and the press: That their testimony would inspire others to come forward until the alleged dog fighting ring was exposed and shut down, and those responsible for the abuse of the animals were behind bars.

“I truly hope you are able to bring attention to this awful practice and make people aware of what goes on so close to their own homes in their perceived safe little community,” Remmie told InMaricopa. “I hope you can end this horror show and have arrests made.”

Elias Weiss contributed to this report.