Editorial

Resource deficit is real villain in pit bull case

The South County Spotlight, Feb 4, 2010, Updated Feb 4, 2010 (3 Reader comments)

Courtesy of Columbia County Animal Control / The South County Spotlight

DANDER DOG - This male pit bull was one of two dogs that attacked a calf last summer. While the pair are relatively friendly to humans, they're highly aggressive towards other animals - and each other. "They're an accident waiting to happen," said animal control officer Roger Kadell.

Few things are as abhorrent as are the inhumane breeding and training of animals for blood sport.

In the recent case of Columbia County versus convicted dog fighter, Eduardo Ribaya, we were granted a window into the gritty shadow world of dog fighting that exists here in our own back yard. The result: While prevailing social conscience strongly condemns dog fighting, and while dog fighting flies in the face of our values and is an invasive threat to our community, there has been no police effort to pursue what we believe is sufficient evidence against Ribaya to warrant further investigation.

As a matter of quick recap, Columbia County Animal Control had confiscated two of Ribaya’s pit bulls last summer after they had attacked and injured a calf in Scappoose. A closer look at Ribaya, who had prior criminal convictions in California and Washington for dog fighting, revealed that he housed equipment on his property specific to training dogs to fight. In fact, Columbia County Circuit Judge Jenefer Grant in her ruling upholding a prior Columbia County Board of Commissioner’s decision to confiscate the dogs from Ribaya said his history and the presence of the training equipment led her to believe that “he was at least involved in preparations for dog fighting.”

But while the ruling is harshly worded, it is absent of any prohibitive conditions that could disrupt Ribaya or other like-minded people from pursuing dog fighting in Columbia County. In other words, he’s getting off scot-free, and if so inclined can now slip back into the shadows to resume his operations without interruption.

The investigative agency whose responsibility it would be to investigate Ribaya is the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Roger Kadell, Columbia County’s Animal Control officer, said in a recent interview that talks with the sheriff’s office indicated to him that it would not follow up on the Ribaya case to determine if any criminal charges are necessary. Additionally, Kadell told the Spotlight that the sheriff’s office defacto response to such animal-related crimes and abuses is that “they don’t have the time” to investigate.

That might very well be the case, considering the sheriff’s office is well-known to be operating on a shoestring budget with a commanding workload. Still, to take no action in such instances broadcasts to dog fighters that Columbia County is a ripe training ground and haven, and just about anything short of being caught red-handed standing over a pit with two dogs gnashing at each other’s throats will produce only a smack on the nose and confiscation of the dogs. It’s a disappointing turn of events considering dog fighting crimes — including training dogs for fighting and possessing paraphanelia related to such training — are Class C felonies in Oregon that deserve follow through.

What’s more, Columbia County incurred in the neighborhood of $6,000 in expense to maintain Ribaya’s pit bulls since the confiscation, not including the fact that one of the pit bulls attacked a shelter worker and another dog while in the county’s possession. Even though the county could press Ribaya to cover those costs, such civil action has no guarantees, Kadell said.

If the sheriff’s office is ill equipped to follow up on animal-related crimes, we like Kadell’s suggestion for him to work out an agreement with the sheriff that would allow Kadell to be the point man for pursuing dog fighting allegations with investigatory work that could lead to district attorney prosecutions in circuit court.

It’s reasonable to expect Kadell to deliver results, too. In our experience, he has been a vehement overseer of the county’s animal control function, and would be expected to embrace the additional responsibility.

Dog fighting is a serious crime. We need to treat it like one.

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