ASPCA Seizes 34 Pit Bulls, Owner on Dog-Fighting Counts

NEW YORK — Animal protection agents acting on a tip raided a pet store called Stop Living in Fear and seized 34 pit bulls discovered in a blood-spattered basement training room, authorities said today.

They also arrested the owner of Stop Living in Fear, Leo Batista, who was believed to be “one of the biggest suppliers of fighting dogs in the Northeast,” said Jeffrey Hon, spokesman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Batista, 24, was charged with the felony crime animal fighting, as well as cruelty to animals, and weapons and drug possession after the raid Thursday afternoon, Hon said.

Batista was discovered with a 4 1/2-inch knife with a brass knuckles handle, as well as a hypodermic syringe used to inject painkilling drugs into the dogs, he added.