Watch this video(CLARKE, COUNTY, Ala.) February 21- A Clarke County man who bills bloody bouts between hogs and dogs as "family entertainment" has been arrested.
Clarke County Sheriff's Deputies charged Johnny Hayes with animal cruelty Saturday afternoon. For several years, Hayes has organized hog/dog rodeos through his business "H & H Kennels".
NBC 15 first shed light on the brutal blood sport in mid February. NBC 15's Mike Rush went undercover to one of the events located between the towns of Coffeeville and Grove Hill in Clarke County.
Our undercover cameras caught horrific images of dogs, mostly pit bulls, chasing down penned pigs. The pigs squealed in pain and terror as the dogs clamped their powerful jaws on the pigs' ears, snouts and tails. All the while, dozens of people, children included, watched on.
Hayes has made no secret of his events. He advertised in publications like the "Clarke County Shoppers Guide". Clarke County Sheriff Jack Day and District Attorney Bobby Keahey both admitted to NBC 15's Mike Rush that they have known about the gatherings for at least a couple of years.
After Rush questioned them about why they haven't stopped the rodeos, the two politicians agreed to take action.
Day says he warned Hayes that if he went through with his next scheduled rodeo on February 19, it would be shut down.
According to the sheriff, Hayes ignored the warning and was arrested. The animal cruelty charge is a misdemeanor. Sheriff Day says Hayes faces a maximum $500 fine and six months in jail.
