Saving man's best friend from dog's worst enemy

Adding to the unmistakable mixed odor of blood and wet dog in the room came the bitter scent of burning. “They left it too long, and you could actually smell the burning—I don’t want to say flesh of the dog—but you could tell it was burning. The dog had been dead for some time, it wasn’t moving.”

After attending nearly 86 matches during his year-long stint undercover investigating a dog-fighting ring, Missouri State Highway Patrol officer Terry Mills describes the merciless end to many dog fights.

“Usually, the loser is killed,” Mills says. “Either electrocuted, or shot or drowned.

“Ever seen jumper cables? The clips look like the end of jumper cables, reduced in size about two or three inches. They’ll hook those wire ends up to a 110 and they’ll clip usually their lip and their flank. They’ll take a washcloth and they’ll wet them down and then plug it in to the 110. It’s pretty gruesome.”

Mills spent more than 30 years with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, where he investigated major crimes and participated in undercover operations involving narcotics, terrorism, and gang-related activities.  His background in undercover work helped him infiltrate an outlaw motorcycle gang and various drug organizations throughout the United States.