Investigators delve deeper into dog fights

ATLANTA, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The discovery of several dog remains and organized fight charts show an Atlanta dogfighting ring was larger than authorities first speculated.

"This is the first dogfighting operation of this magnitude," said Officer James Polite, a spokesman for the Atlanta Police Department.

So far only Ossia M. Phillips, 31, has been arrested after officers found 15 live pit bulls and the bodies of several others, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday.

Atlanta police investigators, a forensic veterinarian and an assistant district attorney searched Phillips' home Saturday and found additional dog remains, added Polite.

The forensic veterinarian is testing the remains to determine how the dogs died.

Investigators also found documents showing the extent of the operation.

"We found an organized chart system that referred to several different dogs, different fight times and different locations," Polite said. "We believe there will be more people because the documents found showed different fights."

Phillips will return to court Jan. 4 on charges of dogfighting and animal cruelty, as well as additional charges investigators said were still pending.