Tampa, Florida - Two more people have now been arrested in connection with the dog who was shot and left tied to railroad tracks because she wouldn't fight.
Tampa police announced this morning that the dog's owners have been jailed after detectives found two more dogs allegedly used for fighting. Two juveniles had already been arrested yesterday after a weeklong investigation.
Kenny Bell and Darnell Devlin, who are brothers, are facing two counts each of possessing a dog fighting dog. Police said they also admitted they owned Cabela, the dog that was found shot twice and tied to train tracks.
"The two that were arrested today purchased [Cabela] for the purpose of dog fighting," Tampa Police Department Assistant Chief Eric Ward said. "One of the two teens arrested earlier in our investigation indicated that she wouldn't fight so that's why they needed to get rid of her."
The story of 'Cabela,' as she has since been named, has made headlines around the world. The female mixed breed was found last Wednesday night, tied to a railroad track and suffering from gunshot wounds. Police say the dog had been bought for fighting, but when she wouldn't fight, her new owners decided to get rid of her.
Two teenagers, both 17, were arrested Wednesday night. Ward said surveillance video shows them, Bell and Devlin leading Cabela toward the tracks.
Police said the suspects told them they tried to shoot the dog, but she ran away. They tracked her down at the home of Bell and Devlin and, according to detectives, the teenagers took her back to the tracks where they tied her down and shot her multiple times.
Officers found the dog after they responded to calls about shots fired in the area of Eskimo Avenue. They named her Cabela and she has since had surgery to repair one of her legs.
Ward said during the investigation, detectives found two more dogs in the home of Bell and Devlin; both animals had injuries consistent with dog fighting. The dogs are now with Hillsborough County Animal Services.
"There were several injuries, not only along the neck but all over their bodies," he said, adding police also found evidence of dog fighting in the backyard.
FOX 13 spoke with Alicia Young, the mother of both Bell and Devlin, who said her sons are innocent.
"I'm not going to say I have the perfect boys but they are not what they're trying to charge them with and put across the media is not true," Young said. "I'm their mom and I'm going to stand behind them 100 percent."
Young said her sons never owned Cabela and described their interaction with her as "middle-men," delivering the dog from her former owners to the two teenagers who are accused of shooting her.
Young also denied Bell, 18, and Devlin, 21, are involved in dog fighting.
"I'm trying to clear their name because this is not right," she said.
Police, however, said they've received confessions from everyone involved.
"Often times we don't tell our mothers the truth. Through the course of the investigation this is what was told to the detectives," Ward said.
In juvenile court Thursday, one of the 17-year-olds got home detention, with a stern warning from the judge:
“I better not catch you violating home detention young man,” he said.
The other teen, who is facing a gun charge, will stay in juvenile detention until his next court date. He has been arrested 16 times since age 13.
