4 arrested in dogfighting ring at day care

Blood spattered the garage of a home day care that was also the base of a dogfighting ring in Maywood, authorities said Wednesday, describing battered and malnourished dogs and the devices used to train them found not far from where children played.

Three Maywood men were arrested, and police are targeting two others in the investigation.

Charles Sutton, 42, is charged with felony dogfighting. His wife operated a day care home on the 2100 block of South Third Avenue, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said. Dart said approximately 10 children were found in the day care during the raid Tuesday, but they were not in the immediate vicinity of the dogs.

Authorities said the dogs used at that address were housed nearby on the 2000 block of South Sixth Avenue by Martez Anderson, who charged $60 a month for the dogs to be kept there. Anderson, 38, who was released from prison in 2006 on a drug conviction, was charged for being a felon in possession of an un-neutered or unspayed dog, authorities said.

Police found an 18-month-old pit bull with three 4-week-old puppies in the garage of Anderson's home - all the dogs were severely emaciated and police believe were used as "bait dogs", authorities said.

While searching Anderson's property, police noticed a large opening in a fence separating his yard from a neighbor's. In that yard, police found a badly injured pit bull with fresh fighting wounds - possibly from a fight this week - tied to a logging chain, authorities said.

Lance Webb, 27, of Maywood was charged with felony dogfighting.

A total of nine battered dogs - four of which were puppies - were rescued and are undergoing surgery and rehabilitation, police said.

"The dogs were in horrific condition," Dart said at the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, where several of the dogs were undergoing surgery and rehabilitation. "This is as bad as we've seen."

He described a gruesome scene in the day care's garage, with blood all over. Police also found items such as bite sticks and a treadmill that had been altered to be used specifically to train the dogs. Officers also recovered a 1996 edition of "Sporting Dog Journal."

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spokesman Kendall Marlowe said the day care was under investigation. He said it had been licensed since March 2004 and for a capacity of seven children.

He said two complaints were received - in 2006 and 2007 - about dogs. But after DCFS officials made unannounced visits, dogs were only found in the garage and not near children.

"This day care home is now closed, and we will monitor the home going forward to ensure that it does not reopen," Marlowe said in a statement Wednesday.

Dart said the day care operator told police that she was not involved in dog fighting and that children were never near the dogs or dog fighting equipment. Day care officials could not immediately be reached.

On Wednesday, Dart cradled one cream-colored 8-week-old puppy that was missing an eye and had scratches on its face.

"The dogs had been thrown into fights," he said.

Linda Estrada, president of the Animal Welfare League, said the dogs were being evaluated.

"We're going to fatten them up, give them love and care," she said. "Then they will go up for adoption."

• Daily Herald staff writer Amie Shak contributed to this report.