Following a felony conviction, an Alabama man was indicted by a federal grand jury on allegations of unlawfully possessing dogs for combat purposes and three firearms.
Carlton Lenard Adams, 51, of Bessemer and Adger, was arrested Wednesday for maintaining a stock of 78 fighting canines at three properties, two in Bessemer and one in Adger, according to court documents filed in this case; federal authorities rescued every dog.
Agents also recovered tools and supplies used in the training and keeping of dogs used for fighting.
This included modified treadmills to hold dogs in place for dog fight conditioning, injectable veterinary steroids, suture materials and syringes, skin staplers, a homemade breeding stand used to immobilize female dogs who are too aggressive to mate naturally, and a break stick device used to break the bite hold of a dog during specified intervals in a dog fight.
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The defendant was further found to possess two pistols and a semi-automatic shotgun known colloquially as a “Street Sweeper.” The latter is considered as not just a firearm but a “destructive device” under federal law.
The dogs were rescued and cared for by a program administered by the U.S. Marshals Service. Following a separate, successful civil forfeiture action brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, the dogs did not have to be returned to the defendant, but could instead be rehabilitated and evaluated for possible adoption.
“Kudos to federal law enforcement for arresting a dogfighting kingpin operating multiple sites across Alabama for the gruesome practice of dogfighting,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy.
“The U.S. previously hit a major cockfighting operator in Alabama, and these arrests signal to all illegal animal fighters that they continue to risk their freedom and their assets if they persist in conducting their barbaric forms of entertainment,” Pacelle added.
“Dogfighting is not only one of the cruelest and most heartless forms of animal exploitation, but it is always bound up with other crimes, including narcotics trafficking and illegal gambling,” said Pacelle.
If convicted, Adams faces penalties up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each firearms charge and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count of animal fighting charges. Under federal law, it is illegal to fight animals and to possess, train, transport, deliver, receive, buy or sell animals intended for use in an animal fighting venture.
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