Pittbulls And Jaws

Two Elmont men arrested for selling and training pitbulls to fight

Elmont, New York - The Nassau County Prosecutor's Office indicted Maron Bernier, 25 and Ricardo Louis, 22 for felony animal cruelty today in the alleged training and selling of pitbulls to fight and selling the dogs online out of their Virginia Ave home since May, 2010.

The two men have been charged with animal fighting conspiracy, overdriving, torturing, and injuring animals. The dogs were being raised and trained in their backyard using a "springpole" (basketball hoop) to strengthen the dogs' jaw muscles.

The Town of Hempstead Animal Control Department and the ASPCA Blood Sports Division aided in the investigation and rescue of the dogs. Some were found with facial wounds. Other dogs had their teeth filed to sharp points, and four dogs had their ears cut off which is commonly done when dogs are used for dog fighting. Two other dogs needed emergency treatment.

District Attorney Kathleen Rice stated the dogs' injuries were shocking.

According to the indictment, Bernier and Louis allegedly were mating the strongest dogs and then selling the puppies on a website called BlueMagicPitz.webs.com averaging $700 a pup.

Bernier is no stranger to the pit bull business, and in June, 2010 public records indicate a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge for training pitbulls to fight and using the dogs to "menace" police officers. At the time Bernier was prohibited from owning or keeping animals and has now been cited with a contempt charge.

Bernier's bail is $25,000; there is no information available about Louis' bail at this time, however both men are due in court on August 10. If found guilty, both men could spend four years in prison.

Bernier's attorney states his client "steadfastly denies" the charges.

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Q&A: Want to know the truth about pitbulls? | Disaster Recovery

I am very glad you put that info out there for people to see. Too bad we can’t get every body to read that, huh. Especially the people who know only about pit bulls what the news cast says about them. Don’t you just love those people. In my town pit bull breeding has been banned. In order to own a pit bull inside city limits you must first-register it with city. two-have it micro-chipped three-have insurance on it. four-it must be fixed. Which for the people that really take care of thier dogs and are the “right” kind of owners for pits then this is not a big deal. their dogs are their family and they will do anything for them. It’s the bad owners who fight them that are pissed. But a lot of good dogs will be euthanized because of this law. It’s sad. I wish the news would flash a clip of what you just typed to the general public…whether it makes a difference or not at least someone would be trying to get it out there…Good job

You’re barking up the wrong tree, Michael. Few people here are going to argue with anything you’ve said…but everything you’ve said has absolutely nothing to do with the problem Pit Bull owners are facing. Want to see what I mean? Just do a quick search on here for “pit bull” and see what you get.

First, you’ll find over 1700 questions about pit bulls (search both “pit bull” and “pitbull”) – far more than for any other breed of dog. What does that tell you – that possibly Pit Bulls are the most overbred, overpopulated breed in the country right now? Second, take a look at the questions. Within just the past few hours, you’ll see questions like “How can I make my pit bull stronger?”, “How do I train my pit bull to attack?”, “How can I train my pit bull to be a guard dog?” and many other similar questions. THIS is the problem, and THIS is where you should be directing your energies. Pit Bulls are in fact currently the most overbred (and for all the wrong reasons) mishandled and abused breed in the world, and people are justified in being afraid of them for these very reasons notwithstanding everything you list about the breed. If you REALLY care about the breed, then put your energies toward doing something that will rescue it before it becomes too late:

- Support legislation that will prohibit anyone other than an AKC licensed breeder to breed pit bulls.

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