(MOBILE, Ala.) February 12 -- Dogs fighting hogs, not on a hunt, but in an arena. It is billed as a family-friendly rodeo and happens north of Mobile in Clarke County, but some say the bloody bouts are just an outlet for animal cruelty. Authorities, all the way up to the state attorney general's office, have done nothing to stop the gatherings.
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, these images speak volumes. To the hundreds of people who make the trek to rural Clarke County to attend hog-dog rodeos, the words that come to mind are sport and tradition. Recently NBC 15 reporter Mike Rush and photographer Mike Corry broke into this world where watching torture and bloodshed is a family past-time for eyes of all ages.
It's a game of catch. Dogs, mostly pit bull terriers, show off their hunting skills by latching their powerful jaws on a penned wild pig. The fastest win prize money and trophies. Our team witnessed pigs screeching in pain as dogs chewed ears, a tail and a snout. The battles ended as soon as the handlers could pry the dogs off the terrified hogs.
Joseph Ebey has attended many of these rodeos. His grandson is one of the handlers, the guys in the ring who control the pigs. Whatever it takes, Ebey says the events are good for the community.
"They got a lot of young people around in this part of the country that don't have much to do around here and that gives them an outlet," Ebey told NBC 15 News.
Our hidden cameras caught that outlet in action. Between fights, children battled each other to be the first to tackle a pig with a taped snout and, according to the announcer, a broken leg.
With music, an admission charge and bleachers, this is a business, one that Coffeeville Police Chief Frankie Crawford would like to see shut down. The fights are out of his jurisdiction, but their effects travel to his nearby town.
He said, People's cars getting vandalized in the parking lot. We've had complaints on dog fights in the parking lots, children getting hurt on three-wheelers, fights."
These hog rodeos are anything but Clarke County's dirty little secret. They're put on by H and H Kennels who advertise their schedules in many publications, including the Clarke County Shoppers Guide.
Authorities have known about these fights for years.
Dog fighting and cockfighting are outlawed in alabama. So where does hog/dog fighting stand? We showed our video to Clarke County's District Attorney Bobby Keahey.
NBC 15's Mike Rush asked. "Is this sort of thing legal in Alabama?"
Keahey replied, "You got a prima facia case to sign a warrant for cruelty to animals."
Keahey says he first heard of the rodeos a couple of years ago. He's done nothing to stop them because he says the Clarke County sheriff's department has failed to arrest anyone. "They ask me, I'll help them. I'll go with them; I'll do anything."
But the sheriff has a different story. "I think it's very unfair that it should come down to me," said Clarke County Sheriff Jack Day. He told NBC 15 News he tried to shut down the fights a few years ago on the basis of animal cruelty, but the he said the D.A. wouldn't play.
"I had a deputy ask him about prosecuting it, and he said no, he's not going to prosecute it. It was not unlawful," said Sheriff Day.
Day says, because of our interest, he'll ask Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor for his opinion. It's not the first time.
More than three years ago, Mobile's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Mobile County's District Attorney's Office asked Pryor to weigh in. The attorney general didn't get involved then and recently turned down our repeated requests to show him our video. His office says it is a county matter.
So with all the political finger pointing, the pig rodeos have persisted, and Crawford understands the outcome for both animals can be grim.
"The ones that have been hurt pretty bad will be destroyed."
In a culture of carnage, that's practically challenging the law to latch on.
Since we first spoke with Sheriff Day, he says he's talked about the matter again with the district attorney and now both agree the hog-dog rodeos are against the law.
Johnny Hayes puts on the events. He did not respond to our repeated requests for an interview. At the event NBC 15 attended, Hayes announced another rodeo is scheduled for next week. if it happens, the sheriff says he'll shut it down.
