By Brad Woodard, www.KHOU.com
Published August 8, 2006

A murder mystery led authorities to one of the biggest pit bull breeding operations they’ve ever seen.

Authorities said this is one of the biggest operations not just in the state, but in the nation. There were over 325 dogs.

"The dogs are sitting in their own waste. Nobody's cleaning up after them," said Courtney Frank, of the Houston Humane Society.

"This is a very big business and there's a lot of money here. To the layperson, this is unknown, but in the industry, we're looking at well over $500,000 to $1 million," said Animal Cruelty investigator Sgt. Mark Timmers.

Collectively, they could represent a major link in the blood sport.

"This was a factory. They were just breeding them and shipping them out. No one was taking care of them or loving them," Frank said.

More than 250 pit bulls allegedly bred for fighting were seized in Liberty County on Monday morning.

It was expected to take hours for Houston Humane Society workers and Precinct 6 deputies to get the dogs under control and into crates.

According to officials, Liberty County officials discovered the operation while allegedly investigating a home invasion in the 2200 block of CR 2252.

The dogs’ owner, 27-year-old Thomas Weigner was found murdered in his home. Police said three to four suspects tied him up and shot him in front of his family.

Paperwork was found that indicated the dogs had been shipped all around the country.

“Those animals don’t have any contact with each other. The chains are short enough that they cannot get at one another.  That says that they’re being bred for fighting and not as family pets,” Frank said.

The dogs will be brought back to the Humane Society in Houston and will be held as evidence until the case is resolved.

The murder suspects are still at large.

Original Story:  www.khou.com