ST. LOUIS (AP) - Dogfighting is bad enough, but a former police officer who spent years working undercover to stop it says it is often the tip of the iceberg.
Terry Mills is a former Missouri State Highway Patrol officer who worked undercover as part of a team that took down a dogfighting ring in 2009. He now heads up the Blood Sports division of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Mills was in St. Louis this past week training city police officers about investigating and prosecuting blood sports.
Mills told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that dogfighting is a haven for organized crime, gangs and drug dealers. He says dogfighting happens all over the state, in out-of-the-way rural areas and on city streets.