Pierce County man suspected of dog-fighting ring faces 75 charges; scores of dogs seized
A Pierce County man previously suspected of running a dog-fighting ring has been charged with animal fighting and 74 counts of animal cruelty.
Elmer James Givens Jr., 41, was booked into Pierce County Jail on Wednesday night. He pleaded not guilty at arraignment Thursday. Superior Court Judge Thomas P. Quinlan set bail at $150,000 and ordered Givens not to “possess, board, breed or promote breeding,” of any dogs if he is released pending the outcome of his case.
Prosecutors charged Givens with animal fighting, 58 counts of first-degree animal cruelty and 16 counts of second-degree animal cruelty, according to court records.
Givens previously was arrested Dec. 18, 2019 on suspicion of animal cruelty and animal fighting and was later released. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said at the time that the investigation was ongoing.
Givens denied being involved with dog fighting and petitioned to get back the 48 dogs the county seized from him at the time. District Court Judge Jeanette Lineberry declined.
She said in part at a Jan. 16, 2020 hearing: “Based on the testimony, the living conditions were deplorable. ... The court has serious concerns about them suffering future neglect or abuse.”
Investigators seized more than 20 dogs from the property Wednesday night when they executed a search warrant, and more than 70 dogs were seized during two prior search warrants, according to charging papers. One of the dogs found Wednesday was allegedly injured and bleeding to the extent that law enforcement took it to a veterinarian immediately, before finishing the search.
Charges from Wednesday are still pending investigation and are not part of the 75 counts prosecutors charged him with Thursday, the court records said.
Charging papers give this account of what happened:
An animal control officer responded to Givens’ Midland property in November 2019 after a report that dogs there looked starved and like they were used for breeding.
Givens brought out six dogs, one at a time, to show the officer. Some were underweight, some had puncture wounds and almost all seemed scared of Givens.
Givens claimed “the dogs were not underweight; they conformed to the breed standard for competition; they were muscular as they run regularly on a treadmill,” the declaration for determination of probable cause said. “Typically, a dog shown for agility, breed standard conformity or strength would not have the type of scarring exhibited by these dogs. The location of the scarring, the heads and legs, is typical in fighting dogs.”
The officer later learned Givens had been investigated by Seattle Animal Control and the Seattle Animal Shelter “as far back as 2003, for purchasing, breeding and transporting dogs across state lines for fighting,” the probable cause statement said.
Officers took 48 dogs from his home when they executed a search warrant in December 2019. Some were puppies.
Some of the animals were locked in crates in the garage. Some were underweight or emaciated. Many were sitting in their own waste.
“Several of the crates had no food or water bowls,” the probable cause statement said. “Some of the crates housing dogs had multiple days worth of feces building up to the middle of them.”
Some of the animals tested positive for giardia, and 16 had pressure wounds from how they were confined.
“Of the dogs found on the property, 22 of the adults and young adults had perfectly symmetrical circular scars consistent with cigarette burns and/or pellet-gun wounds,” the probable cause statement said. “Three of those dogs actually had BB pellets under their skin in those scarred areas. An air-soft pellet pistol was found near the door in the room facing the backyard.”
Investigators also found breeding documents, a breeding calendar, registration paperwork that showed Givens as the owner of “Buck City Kennels,” and materials related to dog fighting.
There was veterinary equipment, scales, a semen collection box and “what appeared to be dog-fighting crib notes with betting lists, match sheets, win/loss records, etc,” the probable cause statement said. There also was a pole with an animal skin on it, which trains dogs to be aggressive with other animals.
Givens’ “claim to fame is his ownership of ‘Michael Myers,’ a dog from MalKant Kennels, another recognized name in dogfighting circles,” the probable cause statement said. “The defendant had advertisements in which he offered ‘Michael Myers’ frozen semen for sale. “
A Humane Society International specialist Animal Control consulted said Givens “and his dogs have come up in separate investigations and other cases throughout the United States and internationally.”
Looking at the Pierce County case, the specialist found the way the dogs were confined, the condition of the dogs and the medical and training supplies were consistent with dog fighting.
Animal Control executed a second search warrant in October after they learned someone saw Givens had dogs at the property again.
The person reportedly saw Givens shoot a pellet gun at the dogs when they were barking.
“Many of the dogs went quiet, but one dog began whining hysterically,” the probable cause statement said. “The defendant walked close to the kennel, pumped the gun, and fired an additional two shots, apparently pointblank.”
Animal Control found 36 dogs at the property that time. The animals were again underweight and being kept in unsanitary conditions without proper access to water. Some had signs of dog fighting and over-breeding. Two had pellets under their skin.
Investigators also found an antibiotic for horses and an iron supplement for horses, but no horses on the property. There were also what appeared to be handwritten win/loss records similar to the prior search.
Givens’ allegedly told Animal Control: “I’m not afraid of jail. I’ve been to jail, and as long as you ain’t charged me and convicted me, I’m gonna do whatever I want.”
Officers also found videos about dogs on Givens’ YouTube channel.
In one he allegedly said: “... this is a profession that gets frowned upon, you know, it gets frowned upon. You can’t be posting stupid stuff, you can’t post illegal (expletive), you just can’t do it. If you wanna talk about it that bad, if you wanna talk about dog fighting, I guess nobody can stop you. But if you have something significant you could lose behind that, you might just wanna rethink it. Conduct yourself like you’re smart man, no illegal talk, no incriminating activity. That’s how you’re gonna survive in this game.”
He also talked about times he’d lost litters during breach labors “because he had not ‘loosened up the babies,’” the probable cause statement said. “At no time during the video does he advocate veterinary care or attention to reduce mortality.”
Prosecutors plan to amend the charges to include dog breeding.
“Recent monitoring of the defendant’s Youtube channel and kennel website demonstrate that the defendant is still in the business of breeding animals and promoting dog-fighting,” the probable cause statement alleges.
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 10:41 AM.
