Rapper DMX Pleads Not Guilty

The rapper DMX has pleaded not guilty in court to charges of felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges on Thursday. He was indicted last week on 11 counts that included felony marijuana and paraphernalia possession and seven counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.

The charges come from a raid that was done on his property last August where he was accused of neglecting to take proper care of 12 pit bull dogs at his Phoenix, Arizona property. Some of the dogs were found to be dehydrated and underfed. Three dogs were found buried in his back yard.

Rapper DMX Arrested for Drugs and Animal Cruelty

The rapper DMX was arrested for drugs and animal cruelty after a raid was done on his north Phoenix home. He tried to barricade himself in his bedroom but came out after a SWAT team went into his home during a raid a 3 a.m. in the morning. Drugs and weapons were seized from the property. The arrest and search warrants were based on indictments for felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. DMX made his first court appearance on Friday and bail was set at $7,500.

Back in August, a search was done of the rapper’s home where 12 pit bull dogs were seized after reports were being made of him abusing dogs on his property. At the time detectives also dug up the bodies of three dead dogs and found marijuana on the property. DMX had not been home for weeks at that time.

German Police Dogs Being Forced to Wear Shoes

Police dogs in Düsseldorf, Germany are being forced to wear fiber shoes while on patrol and the dogs are currently being trained to walk in the shoes. They are being forced to wear the shoes due to the high rate of paw injuries on duty and the dogs are often stepping on broken glass while on patrol. The pieces of glass often get stuck in their paws.

The dogs will start to wear the shoes on patrol during the spring but only during times that demand special foot protection. The shoes come in small, medium, and large sizes and were ordered in blue to match the officer uniforms.

Dog Barks Translated By Computer

There are scientists at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary that has recorded more than 6,000 dog barks, which were by 14 different Hungarian sheepdogs, and fed the sounds to a computer program which was able to categorized the barks into categories that included “stranger,” “fight,” “alone,” “ball,” “walk,” and “play.” The computer also was able to pick out different dogs by their bark.

Read More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/01/16/scidog116.xml

Mike Vick Sentenced to 23 Months in Prison

Mike Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his recent dogfighting case that involved gambling and killing pit bulls. He could have been sentenced to serve as many as five years. He could possible get out three months earlier if he gets time off for good behavior.

Back in August, Vick pleaded guilty to his part in a dogfighting operation that killed between six to eight dogs. He admitted to funding the dogfighting operation on his 15-acre property in southeastern Virginia. He said that he provided the money for the bets on the fights but didn’t get any money from the winnings.

Pets Thrown Off Bridge In Puerto Rico

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Animal Control Workers seized and collected dozens of dogs and cats from housing projects and killed them by throwing them from a bridge. The animals were suppose to have been taken to a shelter.

The city hired Animal Control Solution to raid three housing projects after they warned the residents about the no-pet policy. People saw the animal control workers inject the animals with something that they said was a sedative before they took the animals away. The animals were supposed to be taken to a shelter but instead they were thrown 50 feet from a bridge in a neighboring town before dawn on Tuesday. Some of the animals were already dead buy the rest were alive when they were thrown. Some of the animals were able to survive and climbed to the highway badly injured. About 50 animals stayed there dead.

The mayor of the city says that he would cancel the city’s contract with Animal Control Solution and city lawyers are considering a lawsuit.

DMX’s House Raided

The rapper DMX’s house was raided on Friday, where several pit bulls were seized. They also found the remains of three dogs. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that dogs were being kept in inhumane conditions at his Phoenix, AZ home. DMX was not at home at the time and no arrests were made.

The detectives visited the home and called one of DMX’s lawyers and told him that the conditions for the animals at the property need to improve or they would take action. The dogs were not being fed or given water. DMX has not been home for the past couple of months and had a caretaker for the dogs that wasn’t doing his job. Twelve pit bulls were seized and taken to an animal shelter. Deputies dug up the yard and found buried dogs. They also found firearms on the property.

Ving Rhames’ Dogs Kill a Caretaker

It is reported that Ving Rhames’ massive sized dogs attacked and killed a live-in caretaker at the actor’s home on Friday. The caretaker was found dead was found dead on the front lawn of Rhames’s Los Angeles home covered with dog bites. Several large dogs were running loose on the property when the police arrived.

Animal control officers took three bull mastiffs and an English bulldog. Four dogs are being quarantined, the largest being 200 pounds, for investigation into the attack. Authorities are not sure as to how many of the dogs took part in the attack or why they attacked the caretaker. The caretaker lived on the property and worked there for two years. Ving Rhames is currently out of the country shooting a movie and has no comment as to what happened.

Inmate Sues Mike Vick for $63 Billion Dollars and Accuses Him of Buying Missiles

Mike Vick, a NFL quarterback who is facing charges related to dogfighting, has been hit with a $63 billion dollar lawsuit from a South Carolina inmate, named Jonathan Lee Riches, who claims that Vick stole his pit bulls and sold them on Ebay to buy missiles from Iran.

Riches said that Vick stole two white mixed pit bulls from his home in Florida and used them for his dogfights in Virginia. He also said that Vick sold the dogs on Ebay and used the money from that to buy missiles from the Iran government. He said that Vick needed those missiles because he pledged alliance to Al Qaeda earlier this year.

Riches wants $63 billion dollars delivered to the Williamsburg Federal Correctional facility in South Carolina where he is an inmate due to a wire fraud conviction.