EL DORADO -- City officials are stepping up efforts to raze derelict properties after the discovery of dogfighting operations set up in abandoned houses.
Aldermen, city department officials and a dog control service contracted by the city say criminals have moved illegal dogfighting operations from outlying wooded areas to dilapidated houses in town.
Charles Hartsell, the Union County animal control officer, said three dogfights have been raided within the past two weeks at vacant properties within El Dorado.
The city recently razed a house at 707 Louisiana after Hartsell and the El Dorado Police Department received a tip that dogfighting was occurring there. No one was at the house when officers arrived and discovered a gruesome scene.
"I guess the dog didn't do what they wanted it to do, so they cut its head off with a machete," Alderman Vance Williamson said.
City Code Enforcement Officer Kirby Craig said the scene "looked like a slaughterhouse."
Photographs showed blood spattered on the walls and carpet and bloody bite sticks -- used to pry open a dog's jaws once it has clamped down on another dog during a fight -- strewn about.
"They used to hide the dogs and fight them out in the woods, but when they bark, I can hear them and find them," Hartsell said. "Now they put them in these houses."
El Dorado residents and city officials have long complained about the need to rid the city of derelict properties. Besides being eyesores and posing safety and health hazards, such properties are also a breeding ground for criminal activity, city officials and residents have said.
By ridding the city of the run-down properties, officials believe it will help cut down on illegal activities.
"It's not just dogfighting," Hartsell said. "It's drugs. It's all kinds of things. I'm in these houses, so I see needles. Everything goes on inside them."
The city has increased efforts over the years to address such properties, including tightening up its condemnation process and developing a city housing code. The measures were taken, in part, to prevent property owners from allowing vacant properties to fall into a state of disrepair.
After speaking with Hartsell and Craig about the Louisiana Avenue residence, Williamson called a special meeting with city officials and representatives from the police, fire and public works departments and asked all three departments work together to address derelict properties.
"I want us to take a three-pronged approach to take down these houses," Williamson said.
Williamson said the Louisiana Avenue house was condemned by the city 18 months ago but had not yet been razed because city crews are behind on such projects.
Craig said he has stopped compiling condemnation lists until the city can catch up on the existing list, which has approximately 40 properties.
To move things along, Mayor Frank Hash asked the City Council to consider dipping into the city's reserve coffers to direct $300,000 toward the razing of condemned properties throughout the city. The money would be used to assist the department of public works in razing houses on the condemnation list.
Additionally, Williamson said the city's finance committee will review the 2018 budget to see whether more money can be found to cover overtime pay for the project.
Director of Public Works Robert Edmonds and Craig, the city code enforcement officer, said they often encounter problems with tracking down property owners.
Many property owners live out of state and, in other cases, several owners are listed for one property, which complicates matters further. Craig also said some property owners cannot afford the cost of razing a structure and hauling the rubble to the county landfill.
Williamson asked Edmonds and Fire Marshal Jason Evans to come up with a budget request for the overtime costs needed for the project.
He also called on the El Dorado Police Department to look into nuisance abatement laws for properties -- including those that are occupied -- that are being used for criminal activities.
"The house doesn't have to be falling in on itself," Williamson said.
Hartsell said the tip that led authorities to the Louisiana Avenue residence led to another tip that resulted in the recovery of two of five adult pit bulldogs stolen from the city dog pound in November.
The dogs were found at 718 E. Oak, bleeding from injuries that included bite and puncture wounds.
Hartsell said the dogs have since been adopted and are doing well.
Metro on 02/06/2018