DOZENS of dead dogs found in Detroit park as snow thaws in what animal groups suspect is a 'dumping ground' for dog-fighting ring

MICHIGAN -- A city worker in Detroit discovered a grisly scene as the snow began to melt in a park on the city's west side: The bodies of dozens of dead dogs scattered throughout the park.

According to the Detroit Animal Welfare Group, the majority of the 28 dogs found so far are either pit bull or Mastiff mixes, most of which are covered in scars and lacerations.

Many of the dogs found in River Rouge Park were curled up in the fetal position when their bodies were discovered.

DAWG board member Nicole Litzelman says the dogs most likely were used for fighting, and then discarded by their owners in the park.

'A lot of people when they do these illegal activities, they can’t put them out in the trash because even a lot of the trash collectors will report dead animals in the trash,' Litzelman told WWJ. 'Or much less, they don’t want to draw any attention to the house where they’re fighting the dogs illegally.'

Litzelman says the park has become a popular dumping ground for dead dogs that have been killed in fights, or killed by their owners after losing a fight.

'Because of the heavy snowfall in the month of January, a lot of these deceased bodies were discarded there because it was easier to cover them up. Also, it was an unusually cold month where a lot of dogs froze outside or were left to starve to death,' Litzelman told WWJ. 'This is just a small tip of the iceberg. Right now, since the snow is melting, I’m sure we’re going to find quite a few more bodies in the park.'

Litzelman says the majority of the animals show injuries consistent with fighting. Many, she says, have either bled to death or have large wounds that were never treated.

Some of the dogs, Litzelman says, appeared to be strays or abandoned by their owners. One of the dogs, she says, was found dead inside of his kennel, which was just dumped on the side of the road.

'It’s just very sad and disturbing to see. I mean, there’s kids riding on buses in the city of Detroit that pass by these dead dogs every day, just laying in the park. People walk through the park, they drive through the park, they see these animal carcasses laying all around. It’s one of the biggest problems that we have right now in the city,' she said.

Some of the animals found in the park were still alive, but 'clinging to life.'

Those dogs, however, are still in tremendous danger.

'The park is about 1,200 acres and there’s so many animals running around down there, and there’s actually some people who try to gather some of the dogs that have been discarded that are still alive, and they actually try to lure them and take them and use them for fighting as bait dogs,' she said. 'We were just tipped off that there are some people down there trying to feed these dogs to use them as bait dogs.'

Litzelman and DAWG have organized a walk-through of the park for Saturday to raise awareness of what is becoming a growing problem.

'We’re going to have quite a few volunteers come out there and meet us, bring garbage bags and try to clean up some of the park by removing the deceased bodies, trying to see if we can catch some live dogs by setting up traps, and hopefully try to thwart off some of the illegal dog fighting activities going on in the park,' she said. 'The city is cash-strapped and is having issues as far as police coverage and animal control coverage so somebody has got to try to take ahold of the problem and do something.'

(Daily Mail - Mar 21, 2014)