Marseille police announced Thursday arrests in the midst of dogfights, after an investigation into the death of a pit bull trailed several hundred meters by a scooter.
Two men arrested, a third wanted
At the end of June, the investigators had been alerted to the discovery, in the northern districts, of the corpse of a dog, "in very bad condition, burned by bitumen, an electric wire around the neck," said the Commissioner Patrick Longuet. According to the first elements of the investigation and testimony, he was dragged by a scooter, 400 or 500 meters, "very likely alive at the time of the facts and killed in this way," he continued.
The investigation led to a land inhabited by sedentary travelers, where the police intervened Monday with fifty officials, assisted by the SPA and a veterinarian. A 13-year-old boy was arrested and admitted he was on the scooter. He was indicted for "act of cruelty" against an animal. An accomplice, also on the scooter, was not found. A 20-year-old man, owner of the scooter and a dog, was also arrested.
Six dogs seized
At the scene, six dogs, including five pitbulls, were seized and the police discovered a caravan equipped with cages, a priori intended for the transport of fighting animals. Several had traces of abuse, ears cut to the ground for clandestine combat, said Xavier Bonnard, president of SPA Marseille / Provence.
It seems to be "spawners and spawners who reach range", dedicated to a network of fighting dogs. According to him, a fighting dog can sell 10,000 to 20,000 euros on the black market.