Dan Swift, 41, has been busted today under the suspicion he was running a dog fighting ring. The Police in Erie, Pennsylvania rescued a number of dogs.

Erie news now got a statement from local Police Department:

“Living conditions were not good,” said Lisa Stiles, chief investigating officer for the Humane Society of Northwestern Pa. “A couple of dogs were housed in really small crates in the basement, fecal matter all over the floors along with urine.”

The raid took place yesterday and ended up with Dan Swift in custody. He is currently charged with 3 felony counts of dog fighting and 14 animal cruelty counts.

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The raid happened following several reports for dog fighting:

“There was a chain in the backyard with some fresh blood on it,” said Nicole Bawol, Humane Society executive director. “There was a bucket that had some dried up blood around it.”

Inside the home, investigators say they found three different rooms where that dog fighting allegedly took place, including fresh paint on the walls to cover up any blood.

“Medication, syringes, a treadmill inside,” said Stiles. “So a lot of things you see in the dog fighting world were found inside this home.”

One neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells us she suspected Swift ran a dog-fighting ring ever since she moved into the area more than a year ago.

“Constant crying, screaming from inside the house, in the basement, the backyard,” she recalled.

In the backyard, caged dogs, tow chains and other devices around them are visible. Some dogs recovered Monday night are injured, likely from the fights, Bawol said, but there is hope for the others.

“All of the dogs taken out of the home (Tuesday), as of right now, look like they’re of good weight,” she said. “But we do need to have our veterinarian examine them appropriately.”

Swift is a member of Jorge Gurgel SAS Team and a black belt under Johnatan Stutzman. This isn’t his first newsworthy event in his black belt tenure, about a year back he made a video that explained why he believed that Chris Weidman shouldn’t be fighting and has less than a blue belt level in jiu jitsu given his inability to shake Rockhold from the mount position.

You can watch the alleged dog fighting ring owner explain his noble rationale for critiquing Weidman here. The Pennsylvania Hitman (yes that is his real nickname) then claimed he was in over 200 street fights.

Here’s to hoping those weren’t dog fights…

UPDATE