WAVY.com confronts accused dogfighter

GATES COUNTY, N.C. - Tuesday, Gates County Sheriff Edward Webb seized 13 dogs from what he calls a dogfighting operation.

On Thursday, Jackie Robinson Parker appeared in a Gates County Court on one felony count of Dogfighting and 13 counts of Animal Cruelty.

Parker insists he does not own all 13 dogs, but Ginny Canady, of Chowan County Animal Control reminded Parker, "They all came from your property."

Parker responded, "I'm saying I don't know where they came from."

Canady allowed Parker to look at the dogs, and we asked him about the brown one that a veterinarian says has the scars and scabs that indicate dogfighting within the past two weeks.

Parker claims he doesn't know anything about it.

After pressing the issue, Mr. Parker got agitated and angrily told WAVY.com to give him his space.

Parker then left, and when he got into his pickup truck he put the car in drive, lunging the vehicle towards our TV crew. He then backed up, and left the parking lot.

After Parker left, the Virginia Beach SPCA showed up with 600 pounds of dog food, "The resources for a shelter this size, they just don't have the resources. We are fortunate we have generous donors that allow us to do this," says Dana Goheen of the Virginia Beach SPCA.

The SPCA also brought heartworm tests, and four of the 13 dogs tested positive. The SPCA also took one of the dogs with a paralyzed leg back to Virginia Beach where his leg could be amputated on Saturday.

Veterinarian Thomas Mitchell doing relief work for PETA told us seven of the 13 dogs had poor body condition, and that the scars and scabs are consistent with dogfighting.

Parker will be back in court March 2.