Atlanta police find dogfighting evidence

Atlanta Police on Friday arrested a 31-year-old man at his home after officers found 15 live pit bulls and the bodies of several others.

A police spokesman says evidence, including fight charts and the remains of several dogs, show that a dogfighting operation was more extensive than they’d initially thought.

Atlanta Police spokesman Officer James Polite says that police investigators, a forensic veterinarian and an assistant district attorney searched the home of Ossia Phillips on Saturday. The veterinarian is now testing the remains to determine the number of dogs and their cause of death.

Investigators also seized several handguns and rifles, along with documents detailing the extent of the operation.

Polite says investigators are still trying to determine how long the ring was operating and how many members were involved. He says more arrests are possible.

Phillips is being held without bond at the Fulton County Jail on charges of dog fighting and animal cruelty.

The new evidence is in addition to a "contraption" found in the woods behind a home where investigators believe dogs were fought.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of dogfighting incidents statewide.

(The Associated Press)