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Dogman Tant Convicted
Here's an update on the man, David Ray Tant, whose 47 Pit Bulls were
confiscated several months ago. Each animal fighting charge in South Carolina carries a 5 year prison sentence a $5,000 fine. I'm posting the link to this article but also the full text below since this newspaper makes you register to view its articles online. http://www.charleston.net/stories/11...c_24tant.shtml The article refers to aggravated assualt and someone being hurt. The details a "The assault charge is related to the shooting of land surveyor Steven Baker, who was hit with a blast of birdshot pellets April 7 after he came into contact with what authorities call a "directional mine" on Tant's County Line Road property. The device went off when Baker triggered a tripwire." Its also worth noting, for anyone who doesn't know of Tant, that he's supposedly considered a top dogman. His dog, Tant's Yellow, is the progenitor of a bloodline that reportedly has the second highest number of wins on the fight circuit. -- Tara Story last updated at 6:54 a.m. Wednesday, November 24, 2004 Tant's fighting dogs put to sleep Guilty plea paved way for euthanasia BY HERB FRAZIER Of The Post and Courier Staff Promptly at 8 a.m. Tuesday, the grim task began on Leeds Avenue. By noon, 49 dangerous pit bull dogs, including eight puppies, were dead. The decision to kill the dogs came hours after pit bull breeder David Ray Tant was sentenced in Greenwood Monday to 40 years in prison for animal fighting. Charles Karesh, president of the John Ancrum SPCA in Charleston, talked with attorneys to ensure that Tant's guilty plea cleared the way to euthanize the dogs, too vicious to be pets. As part of his plea, Tant relinquished the dogs that Charleston County sheriff's deputies seized this spring from his Ravenel dog pens. "Knowing how these dogs were bred and raised and observing them over the last seven months, we knew they could not be placed in the public," Karesh said. "Our prayer is that these pit bulls have gone to a world where they will not be drugged and made to fight." Tant's conviction is a setback for the underground world of illegal dogfighting around the country, Karesh said. But it adds value to other dogs from Tant's championship bloodline, begun two decades ago with a dog named Tant's Yellow. Tant can get 10 years off his sentence if he pays the SPCA more than $150,000 for care of the dogs at its North Charleston kennels. News of Tant's sentence rippled across the country, prompting responses on Internet sites of groups that despise or defend dogfighting. In Del Mar, Calif., Alison L. Gianotto, founder and director of 3-year-old Pet-Abuse.Com, celebrated Tant's sentence. "I have never, never seen a sentence like this before," Gianotto said. "This sentence sends a clear message that this country is tired of (dogfighting), and we are not going to accept that as part of our culture." Pet-Abuse.Com monitors animal abuse cases in five countries and, in some cases, is prepared to gather evidence for police, she said. Tant's conviction "might take some dogs off the market, but there are more dogs out there," she said. Gianotto agreed that other dogs bred by Tant will become more valuable. But in the secret world of dogfighting, they won't be for sale on eBay, she joked. Tant's conviction was no laughing matter Tuesday on the Southern Gameboy Forum where an anonymous message said Tant's detailed records filled the prosecution's pool of evidence against him. "Don't give the authorities videos of yourself engaging in an unlawful activity, don't give them audio recordings of yourself discussing unlawful activities, don't give them a hard drive full of every e-mail you've ever sent, or received," said the posting. "Don't give the authorities your dog registrations, breeding records, magazines ... future plans." Tant's 40-year sentence was too much, according to another posting. "I know of people who have killed children that got less time," said an anonymous writer. Another dogfighting supporter wrote: "They get to convict a dog breeder (dogfighter to them ) for more time than most child rapists, drug dealers, muggers and pimps get and the bonus is they get to slaughter all of those pit bulls (including pups). They are happier than flies on dung at this moment!" Tant was brought to trial by Attorney General Henry McMaster's dogfighting task force, formed before Tant's dogs were discovered April 7 when a land surveyor was hurt by a trap near Tant's pens. On the trial's seventh day, Tant pleaded guilty to 41 counts of animal fighting and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Circuit Judge Wyatt Saunders sentenced Tant to five years in prison on six of the 41 dogfighting charges. He suspended the others. He gave Tant the 10-year maximum on the assault charge. All the sentences will run consecutively. Tant could be eligible for release in about eight years. Charleston attorney Sandy Senn, a task force member, said the group is pushing for tougher animal fighting legislation that will allow prosecutors to seize property, as in drug cases. As a result of Tant's conviction, "people are going to have their dogfighting parties in another state. Our goal is to run them out of business, but if we can't, run them out of our state." |
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"elegy" wrote in message
... i have a lot of bad words for the geniuses who decided that those dogs and especially the puppies were "dangerous" but i'm glad they convicted this guy and gave him a *real* sentence. too often dog fighters are convicted and given a slap on the wrist. a fine of $5000 is peanuts to a lot of these guys. They were considered dangerous as pets and to other animals. Tant's dogs have been selectively bred, generation after generation, for extremely high fight ability/drive. They were kept in an unsocialized manner considering there were 41 adults and there's no one who'd have that many dogs in their house, out in the public, or even running loose on the property given the nature of the breed. Its likely they were only socialized to Tant and whomever he had as handlers. The general public has enough problems trying to responsibly own Pit Bulls without giving them Pits who were specifically & selectively bred for superior fight drive. No one likes the idea of puppies being euthanized just because of their breed but these weren't your typical pet Pit Bulls anymore than selectively bred protection dogs like certain lines of GSD are meant to be companion animals. The shelter has also had 7 months to care for these dogs and evaluate them on a safety basis. In their (shelter) defense they are not anti Pit Bull and they are extremely active in getting better laws on the books for animals. This particular SPCA has spear-headed many of the laws and ordinances regarding animal welfare in this state. -- Tara |
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I should add that I did find the word "dangerous" to be way over the top and
doubt that it was quoted from the shelter but rather suspect its the author's choice of words. -- Tara |
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"elegy" wrote in message
... i didn't realize they'd had them so long, though i guess it makes sense since the whole court case had to happen. it was a knee-jerk response i guess. what you've said makes a lot of sense. still sad though. I agree that its sad and of course knee-jerk reactions will blame the court for such a harsh sentence (its already happening on some web forums) and the shelter for euthanizing the dogs. I know there's no pleasing everyone and while I agree with some that 30 years is a bit much for the fight counts (the other 10 years was for the weaponry & resulting injury of the surveyor) its going to send a message that hopefully other states will listen to and I think that was the point. As the article said, he'll be eligible for parole in 8 years but if more states adopted such harsh sentencing where animal abuse and fighting are concerned then that may help cut back on the crimes more than anything else. Unfortunately for Tant I believe he was held up as an example of what not to do...or get caught doing. -- Tara |
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40 years is insane for this.
Just more violence, this time by the state. -Rich |
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Rich said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds:
I agree with all the goals that you espouse. I HATE abusers of Pit Bulls. But he got a sentence longer than many murders, rapists, and those convicted of other violent crimes. It's just not proportionate, IMO Then disagree with the repercussions of the crimes committed by those murderers and rapists. -- --Matt. Rocky's a Dog. |
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"Rocky" wrote in message ... Rich said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds: I agree with all the goals that you espouse. I HATE abusers of Pit Bulls. But he got a sentence longer than many murders, rapists, and those convicted of other violent crimes. It's just not proportionate, IMO Then disagree with the repercussions of the crimes committed by those murderers and rapists. -- --Matt. Rocky's a Dog. No, America is already known for its long sentences. We also have the highest per capita prison population in the world. |
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Rich said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds:
I agree with all the goals that you espouse. I HATE abusers of Pit Bulls. But he got a sentence longer than many murders, rapists, and those convicted of other violent crimes. It's just not proportionate, IMO Then disagree with the repercussions of the crimes committed by those murderers and rapists. No, America is already known for its long sentences. Then I have no idea what you're complaining about. On one hand, you say that dog abusers receive disproportionately large sentences compared to those of abusive human crimes, yet you appear to think that the human sentences are long. -- --Matt. Rocky's a Dog. |
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"Rocky" wrote in message ... Rich said in rec.pets.dogs.breeds: I agree with all the goals that you espouse. I HATE abusers of Pit Bulls. But he got a sentence longer than many murders, rapists, and those convicted of other violent crimes. It's just not proportionate, IMO Then disagree with the repercussions of the crimes committed by those murderers and rapists. No, America is already known for its long sentences. Then I have no idea what you're complaining about. On one hand, you say that dog abusers receive disproportionately large sentences compared to those of abusive human crimes, yet you appear to think that the human sentences are long. -- --Matt. Rocky's a Dog. I don't see the contradiction. All sentences are too long, and more so this one for dog abuse. What's so confusing about that? -Q |
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"Rich" wrote in message . com... I agree with all the goals that you espouse. I HATE abusers of Pit Bulls. But he got a sentence longer than many murders, rapists, and those convicted of other violent crimes. It's just not proportionate, IMO. IMHO, longer sentences for dog fighters will hopefully prove to be a deterrent. and the less unscrupulous breeders, the less dogs in the hands of idiots. which might just help with "the pit bull problem". the sentences of other violent criminals have no relation to this case. -kelly |
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