CLAREMORE — Gruesome evidence of dog fighting and animal abuse was discovered Tuesday while serving a search warrant for marijuana at a Claremore area residence, authorities said.
Rogers County deputies from the THUG Task Force found evidence that marijuana was being sold out of the home, but they found much more alleged criminal activity when they looked at the videos stored on personal cell phones at the residence.
Arrested were Garrett Lee Bump, 29, and Casylin Morgan, 20, on multiple complaints including dog fighting, cruelty to animals, and drug possession.
Sheriff Scott Walton said that the videos are very graphic and disturbing.
“They were fighting dogs in the house, a very small house,” he said. “In one of the videos you can hear a child in the background.”
According to the sheriff’s office, the videos show the dogs being agitated by their handlers then released towards each other in a small room with the handlers yelling “‘Kill that mother (expletive), kill him,'" Walton said. "The dogs would bite each other on the ears and throat until one dog would die or the handlers would separate once a winner was declared.”
One of the dogs, identified as “Tank,” is shown standing in a bathtub bleeding from his injuries. Walton said authorities found Tank’s remains buried in the backyard and the remains were taken into evidence.
Authorities believe Bump sewed up the dog’s injuries without anesthesia.
One video showed the couple holding two small puppies on their hind legs and forcing them to fight each other, the sheriff’s office said.
Walton said that they rescued two adult dogs and two puppies — all pit bulls — that were taken to the city’s animal control facility where they are being evaluated.
The dogs show signs of having fresh as well as past injuries, Walton said.
Crime
The plaintiff alleged in a lawsuit that he was made to perform pushups to avoid a ticket or jail.
The most recent assault occurred about 4 a.m. Sept. 7 in the area of the Morrison Apartments.
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