HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Dozens of dogs who were rescued from a dogfighting situation out of Horry County last summer are now on their way to new lives.

Police said 29 pit bulls were found with injuries related to dogfighting. Police also said the dogs were being used for breeding.

After spending many months at the Horry County Animal Care Center, they were recently transported to rescues in Georgia and Florida.

“They’re normal dogs that were just in the wrong place at the wrong time through no fault of their own,” Jen Deane, a K9 behavioral specialist said.

Deane has worked with dogs who have experienced trauma for more than 15 years.

She got in touch with Horry County to see if she could evaluate the dogs with help from Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare organization.

Deane spent a week evaluating the animals and noticed inspiring behavior from dogs who had just experienced such trauma.

“Super-duper happy, wiggly, you know tails wagging,” Deane said. “Resoundingly what I saw were dogs that really wanted to be with their people. I mean they just love, love, love people.”

Deane said human interaction made the biggest impact in helping the dogs. Deane added the dogs now play with people and other dogs very well.

12-year-old Tank was one of the dogs rescued and Deane said he’s your normal, everyday senior dog.

“You know I just left Tank’s room a minute ago,” Deane said. “He has his own room with a bed and bones. And he was just laying there happy as he could be just chomping on his bone. You would never know he’d been through what he’d been through.”

In Deane’s experience, she said most of the time dogfighting is motivated by money and adrenaline. She said there’s other illegal activities probably happening too.

“It happens in rural areas, it happens in suburbs, it happens with people that don’t have money, with people that do have money,” Deane said. “It is everywhere, and I promise you it’s happening every day.”

Deane said if you see something, say something. She also said they hope to get all 29 dogs ready for adoption.

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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook, and X, formerly Twitter. You can also read more of her work, here.

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