From NBC Chicago

Seven people were arrested and two dogs rescued by sheriff’s police during a raid on a Maywood home last week, authorities announced Monday.

On suspicion of animal cruelty and neglect, officers with the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Animal Crimes Unit were in the process of executing a search warrant on the home Dec. 30 when they saw a man enter with a pit bull and an entourage of people, a release from the department said.

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Upon entering the home, officers said they found two pit bulls fighting in the basement. The dogs were taken away by workers from the Animal Welfare for immediate veterinary care.

Of the dogs recovered from the home, in the 700 block of South 3rd Avenue, one was a puppy thought to be just about 11 months old.

Sheriff Tom Dart said he believes the puppy would’ve been killed by the bigger 65-pound dog it was fighting, had investigators not arrived when they did.

Six people were charged with felony animal cruelty. Jonathan Holt, 28, a resident of the home, was charged with dogfighting. Tara Jackson, 19, and Ebony Jackson, 21, both of the 2000 block of South 13th Street in Maywood; Kevin Hicks, 25, of the 2700 block of West Maypole in Chicago; Aaliyah Jackson, 18, of the 500 block of South 5th Street in Maywood; and Andre Gaines, 24, of the 1900 block of 5th Street in Maywood, were all charged with attending a dogfight.

Gaines was also arrested on a Cook County warrant for unrelated aggravated assault and possession of weapons and drugs, the sheriff’s statement said.

Continued at NBC Chicago