Father, son tied to federal dogfighting investigation in Harford County

WHITEFORD, Md. — What started with a complaint about dogs living in inhumane conditions at a Whiteford home has now led to a federal dogfighting investigation involving a father and son.

The investigation traces back to a citizen's complaint last July about dogs living in inhumane conditions at a home on Eagles Grove Court in Whiteford. Investigators say they later found items used to train dogs to fight, implicating 48-year-old Theodore Stinson and his 25-year-old son, also named Theodore Stinson.

At the Humane Society of Harford County in Fallston, half of the shelter’s dogs awaiting adoption are pit bulls, and Marketing Director Erin Long says those who train them for blood sport do a disservice to the entire breed.

“We have people all the time telling us, ‘I’m looking for a specific type of dog and I don’t even want to consider a pit bull,” said Long.

Adding to the misperception of the dogs as being inherently aggressive, when often that stems from abuse or neglect.

“It just boggles my mind that we still are hearing about people that are dog fighting,” said Long, “I think that, as a society, we should be bothered by that, because people that are doing that are doing that, that get excited by that, they’re lacking any compassion and empathy at all, which is scary.”