Phillip Hunt Jr. is out on $2,000 bond, charged with animal
fighting, a 3rd-degree felony.
Tanya Caldwell |
Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 27, 2006
The pit bulls were still training for their next fight when
code-enforcement officers came to check on them at their owner's
home in Deltona, officials said Tuesday.
One of the dogs was working out on a treadmill when investigators
arrived last week, its scarred, malnourished body chained to the
machine. Another scarred dog was so wounded it could barely walk.
And the ones that could walk, officials said, strutted around with
weight belts strapped to their bodies with duct tape.
There were eight of them in all, six adults and two pit-bull
puppies. All were seized by code-enforcement officers last week
after investigators got word that someone at 910 Saxon Blvd. was
training the dogs to fight.
On Friday, Phillip Hunt Jr., 25, turned himself in at the John E.
Polk Correctional Facility in Seminole County on charges of animal
fighting, a third-degree felony.
Officials seized the dogs Dec. 19 after finding them and discovering
other evidence that would suggest that someone was preparing the
dogs for battle, including medicine and syringes to treat their
injuries and a newsletter that spelled out information about
dog-fighting events.
There was even a weight scale in the backyard of the home, said Gary
Davidson, a spokesman for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, which
investigated the home with code-enforcement officials.
The scale, Davidson said, was used to weigh-in the animals and also
to increase their jaw strength as they clamped down on the hanging
scale while getting weighed.
An arrest warrant was issued for Hunt on Thursday. The next day he
turned himself in and later posted $2,000 bond, officials said.
The pit bulls were taken to the Halifax Humane Society, officials
said.
Tanya Caldwell can be reached at tcaldwell@orlandosentinel.com or
386-851-7910.