Pup Adopted Out of 'Brutal' Fight Ring

A Santa Monica woman who rescued one of dozens of pit bulls seized by authorities while dismantling a Lake Los Angeles dog fighting ring is thanking the tipster who lead prosecutors to the operation.

The anonymous tipster has received a $5,000 reward for notifying authorities. The reward was announced at a news conference attended by Guinness, an 11-month-old black and white male pit bull mix seized from the property, and Carissa Cole of Santa Monica, who adopted him.

Cole—standing with her dog—said she wanted to thank the tipster, calling it "a blessing" that authorities were able to rescue the puppy and to turn him over to a "really great home and lots and lots of love."

The county's top prosecutor lauded the tipster for leading sheriff's deputies to Jesse and Yvette Jimenez, saying the two were "responsible for brutalizing more than a dozen dogs."

Thirteen of the 16 pit bulls seized were used in the dog fighting operation, but Deputy District Attorney Samantha Macdonald said there was no evidence that the three puppies had been involved in fighting.

"I'm not entirely sure about whether the others ended up," said Macdonald, who prosecuted Jimenez and his wife on dog-fighting and animal cruelty charges.

"I know that at least some of them were euthanized just because they were aggressive and dangerous to adopt them out."

The prosecutor noted that some of the dogs had "serious medical issues," including a female pit bull whose teeth had been manually filed down to the pulp in an apparent effort to breed her without risking injury to a male dog.

The female dog was "very ill" and had to be euthanized, Macdonald told reporters. "I honestly believe that had this tipster not called in, we would have never found out,'' the prosecutor said.

"They were in a pretty remote area. They had a very large piece of land. It's unlikely that unless somebody came forward that we would have actually ever known what was going on there."

Along with the dogs, authorities also found treadmills, a blood-stained portable dog fighting pit and handwritten records that included blow-by-blow accounts of dog fights, Cooley told reporters.

The Jimenezes were arrested last March. Jesse Jimenez, 44, is set to surrender Friday to begin serving a year in jail in connection with his no contest plea. He is expected to be sentenced next year—after he finishes the jail term—on two counts of dog fighting and one count of animal cruelty, with 28 other counts against him expected to be dismissed then.

Yvette Jimenez, 42, pleaded no contest last Nov. 30 to two counts of dog fighting and one count of animal cruelty. She was immediately sentenced to three years probation, ordered to complete animal cruelty counseling and given credit for 410 days in custody.

— This report was compiled with information provide by City News Service.