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Post commentEach of the three suspects appeared alongside their personal attorneys to answer to the charges stemming from an early morning raid on Oct. 21 at a property near Dudley where 25 Pit Bulls and one Beagle were seized.
Both Jamie Sifford, 29 of Dudley, and Jessey Short, 30 of Cape Girardeau have preliminary hearings scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 24. At the hearing, the judge will listen to evidence to determine whether the suspects should be held for trial.
Short has been charged with three counts of felony dog fighting and Sifford has been charged with 18 counts of felony dog fighting, three counts of possession of a controlled substance (hydrocodone, xanax and diazepam) and one count of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.
If convicted, Sifford faces up to 94 years in prison.
Stephen Walsh, attorney for Curtis Pickering, filed a motion for a change of judge.
Pickering, 28 of South Fulton, Tenn. is now being charged with two counts of felony dog fighting in Missouri. He faces a maximum of 8 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Pickering and Short both have bonds of $125,000 cash only. Sifford has been given no bond.
The Oct. 21 raid was a cooperative effort of the Stoddard County Sheriff's Dept., the SEMO Drug Task Force, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri Humane Society.
Investigators recovered a large amount of evidence consistent with dog fighting including weights, treadmills, a bloody mat covering the floor of what was believed to be the ring where dogs were fought and breaker bars used to pry one dog's jaws from another.
The fate of the dogs seized from the scene is still unknown, but Humane Society officials have suggested they will likely be adopted out to people experienced with rehabilitating fighting dogs. Euthanasia is still a possibility for some.
Currently, the dogs are being housed at the Missouri Humane Society Headquarters on Macklind Avenue in St. Louis while they await a disposition hearing to determine who will have custody. For the time being, the dogs are considered evidence.
Look for more on this story in future editions of The Daily Statesman.
