A deputy chief information officer at the Pentagon, Frederick Douglass Moorefield, was arrested last week alongside two associates for allegedly training fighting dogs for more than 20 years.

In court records, Mr. Moorefield is accused of training dogs, running bets, and executing dogs that survived the fighting ring. A longtime friend, Mario Flythe, was also accused of promoting and facilitating the dogfighting venture. Both men are Maryland residents. 

In a raid of Mr. Moorefield’s home in early September, authorities found jumper cables that were allegedly used to execute dogs that did not die in the fights. Investigators also found five pit bull-type dogs at Mr. Moorefield’s house and five at Mr. Flythe’s home.

Investigators in the raid also reported finding an apparatus allegedly used to involuntarily inseminate female dogs and stains that they say are “consistent with bloodstains from dogfights.”

“Law enforcement also recovered veterinary steroids, training schedules, a carpet that appeared to be stained with blood, and a weighted dog vest with a patch reading ‘Geehad Kennels,’” a statement from the Department of Justice on the raid reads. 

In an exchange with law enforcement, Mr. Moorefield admitted to operating under the name “Geehad Kennels.” Mr. Flythe said that he operated under the name “Razor Sharp Kennels” and admitted to having participated in dogfighting in the past.

The Pentagon has not yet confirmed whether Mr. Moorefield has been suspended, terminated, or allowed to retire, though a Pentagon spokesman did indicate that he was not performing his duties. “We can confirm that the individual is no longer in the workplace, but we cannot comment further on an individual personnel matter,” the Pentagon spokesman, Lieutenant Commander Tim Gorman, said in a statement.

There have so far been five other arrests of individuals allegedly associated with the dogfighting ring in Virginia last year. Eight of the nine have pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators.

An affidavit written by a FBI special agent, Ryan Daly, said that the agency had been tracking the dogfighting ring for years, adding that the members communicated on Telegram and exchanged videos, arranged fights, and compared methods for killing dogs who lost fights.

According to Mr. Daly, Mr. Moorefield had been involved with dogfighting for at least 20 years, and fights continued even after the arrests in Virginia last year.

Local law enforcement and Anne Arundel County authorities had received complaints for years ahead of the arrest. In one instance in November 2018, county animal control was notified of two dead dogs found in a dog food bag about six miles from Mr. Moorefield’s home.

In a statement, the president of Animal Wellness Action, Wayne Pacelle, commended law enforcement for its efforts but said the “scale of the problem is staggering, and we must respond with even more vigorous efforts to pull up animal fighting at the root.”

Animal Wellness Action is advocating for a provision to be added to the Farm Bill that would ban the simulcasting of animal fighting in America. Although both staging and attending animal fighting events in person is illegal in America, a legal loophole exists allowing broadcasts from locales where it is legal or where operators successfully circumnavigate the law.