FLORIDA -- A man and a 14-year-old boy were charged with cruelty to animals after they started a fight between two pit bulls and stood by while the dogs mauled each other, police said.
Both dogs were confiscated, along with three other pit bulls that were badly malnourished, reports released on Thursday show.
"The guys weren't fighting the dogs for money, they were just doing it to watch," police officer John Evans said.
The teenager was arrested in the back yard of a home in the first block of Southwest Fifth Avenue, where the fight occurred and where the second suspect, George Bonner, 20, lives.
Bonner ran when police arrived but later turned himself. Both face misdemeanor charges.
One dog suffered puncture wounds on its head and face, particularly around its eyes. One dog was limping and its left front leg was bleeding when police arrived, officers said.
Two pit bull puppies and an adult female were in a nearby cage.
"Their ribs were showing and their hip bones were visible," Evans said. "They looked really bad."
(Sun Sentinel - January 12, 1990)
