Pit bulls rescued from 'horrific' Oakland home OAKLAND

Officer Sarah Whitmeyer talks with "Edna" a pitbull mix during her exercise period at the Oakland Animal Shelter, Wednesday January 26, 2011 in Oakland, Calif. Edna was one of the 33 dogs that was picked up December 9 in one of the largest dog-fighting raids in Oakland's history. less Officer Sarah Whitmeyer talks with "Edna" a pitbull mix during her exercise period at the Oakland Animal Shelter, Wednesday January 26, 2011 in Oakland, Calif. Edna was one of the 33 dogs that was picked up ... more Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 13 Caption Close Pit bulls rescued from 'horrific' Oakland home 1 / 13 Back to Gallery

Oakland animal care officers were struggling this week to find homes for dozens of pit bulls rescued in one of the largest animal cruelty busts in decades.

"It was horrific, absolutely terrible," said Oakland police Officer Sarah Whitmeyer, who helped lead the raid on a squalid East Oakland home. "The smell was so bad even a mask didn't help. All of us were coughing and trying to breathe."

Police found 33 bloody and terrified pit bulls at the two-bedroom Sobrante Park home owned by Arthey Yancey when they swept through with a warrant on Dec. 9. The dogs were in crates stacked three high in a makeshift storage room. Some of the crates were so caked with excrement that the dogs had dug holes to lie in it and had skin stained yellow from urine.

Yancey, 68, was charged in Alameda County Superior Court with felony animal cruelty. He is free on his own recognizance.

Some of the dogs suffered from severe cuts, evidence of fighting, while others appeared to be in relatively fair condition, said Oakland's animal service director, Megan Webb.

Several of the dogs were in such bad shape that they had to be euthanized. Some of the others were acquired by rescue groups, and the rest are at the Oakland shelter undergoing treatment or awaiting adoption.

Authorities learned about the case after neighbors complained of a ghastly smell emanating from the home. Yancey told investigators he was rescuing dogs from the neighborhood, Whitmeyer said.

Possibly fighting dogs

Police have not yet determined exactly why Yancey was keeping the dogs at his home.

"He could have been hoarding dogs, fighting dogs, breeding dogs ... we just don't know," Webb said, adding that many of them appeared at some point to have been used in organized dogfights.

The dogs were a wide range of pit bull mixes, some classic fighting dogs - lean and squat - and some possibly used as "bait" for fights or for breeding. All were large, and all but three were housed in 3-foot-long crates bound with twine. The other three were chained inside the house.

The dogs probably had rarely been outside their crates, Webb said. Their legs and feet are permanently splayed, and most could barely walk for several days after they were brought to the shelter. Most have gnarled teeth from chewing on the crate bars, she said.

But worst of all, most of the dogs were crazed from having spent their entire lives in plastic boxes, Webb said.

Easily startled

"Dogs are social animals. When these guys got out, they were literally having breakdowns," said Oakland police Sgt. David Cronin, who has been helping on the case. "They were treated like a commodity. They had no emotional value."

Webb said one of the dogs she rescued was lying in her office one day when the animal was startled by the movement of her chair. The dog suddenly urinated and defecated, began biting the air and spinning crazily in circles, Webb said.

A few of the canines have nevertheless captured the hearts of shelter staff. Edna, a 12-year-old black pit bull, was in the worst shape of all the animals confiscated from Yancey's home. She was emaciated, covered in scars from years as a bait dog, and exhausted from delivering countless litters of puppies.

But on Wednesday, she was as mellow and friendly as an old golden retriever. She loped happily around the shelter lawn and licked all her human bystanders. Her tail never stopped wagging.

Oakland has recently beefed up its animal abuse enforcement by adding a sworn officer to the shelter staff.

"Even though we can't save all the dogs, it's great when we can get at least some of them out of bad environments," Whitmeyer said. "It's very gratifying."