Dozens of Dogs Rescued After Police Bust Mississippi Fighting Ring

Law enforcement removed more than two dozen dogs from a Mississippi home after the owner was busted for hosting a dog fighting ring, on Saturday.

The Panola County Sheriff’s Office was first alerted to the alleged fighting after receiving a 911 hangup call from an address in the small Mississippi Delta town of Como.

When a sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the address he encountered “a large mass of people at this address who fled in multiple vehicles, many from other counties and out of state,” according to a Facebook post from the Panola County Sheriff’s Office.

Many of the 29 confiscated dogs were allegedly skinny and scarred from previous fights.

“People who are doing this to these dogs need to be in jail,” Sheriff Shane Phelps told WHBQ. “You go out and you look and see what these dogs are made to do and put in this ring to fight ‘til death.”

Phelps further alleged that some of the dogs had weights around their necks that were intended to strengthen them – in one instance, a dog was wearing a 30-to-40 pound chain, according to WHBQ.

Homeowner Damien Jay Smoot, 37, was arrested and charged with dogfights, which is a felony. The police also seized 13 vehicles from Smoot’s property that are believed to belong to other individuals who were watching the fight.

There are no animal shelters in close proximity to where the dogs were seized; the sheriff’s office is temporarily housing the animals but if they find permanent homes, the dogs will be euthanized. 

The investigation is ongoing and police expect to make more arrests.