ROCK HILL, S.C. – A Chester County Animal Control officer has been arrested and charged in a hog-dogfighting ring that was raided last week, authorities said.
Almost 100 dogs and more than a dozen hogs were taken in the raid on an animal fighting operation in Chester County (search), authorities said.
Vicky Stultz Land, 47, of Chester has been charged with animal fighting and baiting and misconduct in office, the State Law Enforcement Division said Thursday. Stultz is the fourth person to be arrested in South Carolina.
Arthur Parker Sr., Arthur Parker Jr., and Mary Evans Luther, 50, all of Fort Lawn, were charged with animal fighting and attending an animal fight. Prosecutors said Parker Sr. is considered one of the top hog-dogfighting event sponsors in the nation.
Land attended an animal fight at a lumber yard in Richburg on Oct. 16, according to an affidavit.
The raid was one of several in different parts of the country, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
In the events, a dog — usually a pit or American bulldog — and a hog or wild boar with its tusks removed are put in a pen and fight until the dog forces the hog to the ground. Both animals typically suffer major injuries in the fight, prosecutors said.
Hunting wild boar with a dog is legal in South Carolina, but staged fights are prohibited.
The dogs were turned over to Chester County Animal Control and Humane Society (search) representatives.
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