Breeders deny pit bulls were raised for dogfights
by A.J. Flick on Nov. 13, 2008, under Family, Local
These puppies were seized as part of the current case.
A prosecutor says an Avra Valley couple actively bred pit bull puppies for use in dogfights, but defense attorneys claim the case was fabricated.
Mahlon Thatcher Patrick and Emily Elizabeth Dennis, both 64, are charged with two counts of dogfighting and 21 counts of animal cruelty.
Judge John S. Leonardo of Pima County Superior Court heard opening statements Wednesday in the bench trial, which is expected to carry over into next week.
Deputy County Attorney Lewis A. Brandes told Leonardo about evidence that Patrick and Dennis used dogfighting terms in advertising their puppies for sale.
For instance, Brandes said, the couple’s Web site proclaimed “Don’t Get Counted Out,” which is used in dogfighting when a dog refuses to fight and is counted out of the match.
He said Patrick, the breeder, prided himself on having “game,” which meant that his dogs would engage in fighting.
“Game is the name of the fame for these people,” Brandes said, invoking the name of an old TV show.
“That’s how they make their money,” he said. “How they got to be one of the top dog breeding combinations in the country.”
Defense attorneys Mark R. Resnick, who represents Patrick, and Thomas E. Higgins Jr., who represents Dennis, said there is no case against their clients.
“This is really about law enforcement misunderstanding what was going on and using those vagaries and innuendos to make a case where there is no case,” Resnick said.
Patrick loves the pit bull breed, which is why he went into breeding, Resnick said.
“He did what any responsible breeder does and made people sign a contract saying if you sell the dog, it’s not to be used for the purpose of fighting,” Resnick said.
He likened Patrick’s situation to that of a gun manufacturer who can’t track a sold gun to make sure it isn’t used in a crime.
Resnick told Leonardo an expert will testify that, with the exception of two dogs seized from Patrick, the dogs were socialized.
Higgins told Leonardo the state won’t be able to prove the couple intended the dogs to be sold for fighting. There wasn’t a fighting pit on the property and there was no training on site to teach the dogs to fight, he added.
Higgins said experts will testify only that some of the dogs had marks that “could be indicative” of fighting. In one case, Higgins said, a mark on one dog occurred when he was nursing and his mother nipped him.
“To paraphrase Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes, the game is afoot,” Higgins said, meaning the chase for the villain has begun.
The veterinarian who cared for the dogs will testify that he wouldn’t have allowed the animals to be used for fighting, Higgins said.
The couple operated on a large piece of property owned by Dennis’ mother, where dozens of dogs were kept in kennels, Brandes said.
“These weren’t for pets,” he said, “because these dogs were not given socialization.”
Brandes noted that when law enforcement officers raided the property earlier this year, only one leash was found for 110 dogs.
In February, officials from the Pima Animal Care Center and Pima County Sheriff’s Department, along with southern Arizona and national representatives from the Humane Society converged on four sites where 150 dogs were seized, the Citizen previously reported.
In addition to Patrick and Dennis, deputies arrested Robert Clayton Smith, 56; Terry Lee Williams, 53; Juan Rudolfo Verdin, 40; and Zenaida Yvonne Verdin, 40.
Juan Verdin recently pleaded guilty to attempted dogfighting and his wife Zenaida, pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals. Leonardo is set to sentence them Nov. 26.
Smith and Williams are scheduled for a jury trial in February before Judge Michael J. Cruikshank.
Dennis
Patrick
