Breeder for illegal dog fights arrested in Galilee town

Pit Bull and Dogo Argentino breeds were seized from home in Abu Snaan.

By BEN HARTMAN
A dog seized by police, December 30, 2014 (photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
A dog seized by police, December 30, 2014
(photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Police on Tuesday arrested a man they believe was breeding dogs for underground dogfights in the mixed Druse-Muslim- Christian village of Abu Sinan.
The officers from the Acre station, supported by officials from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel, arrested the man at his home in the village on Tuesday, where they also found three dogs they said were being bred for illegal dogfights.
In a statement on Tuesday, Coastal District police said that they seized dogs of the pit bull and dogo Argentino breeds, as well as tranquilizers, steroids, and proteins that the suspect kept to feed the dogs. During the search of his house they also found explosives, they said.
The Coastal District police spokesman said Tuesday he wasn’t sure what will happen to the dogs, but that typically in the past they, or the SPCA, have taken them for rehabilitation, with the eventual goal of putting them up for adoption.
A spokesman for the SPCA said that often such dogs can’t be put up for adoption, because people need special permits to adopt what are considered more dangerous breeds. He added that many local authorities won’t let their residents keep breeds that are considered dangerous or dogs that were trained to fight.