Man Trained Pit Bulls To Fight, Posted Instagram Videos, Arrested

A Maryland man was arrested Tuesday after he posted videos of him training pit bulls to fight.

The incident came to light in March when Anne Arundel County police received information regarding dogfighting in the area. During investigation, the officers came across the Instagram account used by 26-year-old Kyle Murray which had a video showing a pit bull mauling a small white dog. They found several such videos in which pit bulls were being trained to fight. Some videos also showed the dogs running in snow pulling a large weight in order to build endurance and leg muscle. Police said a total of three pit bulls were seen in Murray’s Instagram videos.

According to the court records, a federal agent specializing in dog fighting told investigators about the videos. The agent also said the video of the pit bull attacking the small white dog was likely taken by Murray to test the canine’s ability to kill, which is a common dogfighting practice, the Capital Gazette reported.

The detectives then contacted Murray through social media and convinced him to arrange a dogfight. Detectives then confirmed the pit bull attacking the white dog in the video belonged to the accused and obtained a search warrant for Murray’s home. The police executed the search warrant Tuesday and found the accused and his pit bull at the residence.

During police interrogation, Murray said he made and posted all the videos in order to drive up the prices for his pit bull. He also said the white dog in the video was a stray that his stepchildren had brought home. The dog was killed by his pit bull after a 30-minute attack. Another pit bull was found in Murray’s neighbor’s home. The officers took a photo of the dog and left it back. There was no information about the other two pit bulls that were featured in Murray’s social media account.

Murray was taken into custody and charged with “animal cruelty, dog fighting and training a dog for a dog fight.” His pit bull, on the other hand, was taken into custody by the animal control. The investigation was ongoing.