On Friday, November 1, deputies in Hart County, Georgia, answered a call about cars blocking the road at the end of Jim Heard Road. They heard dogs snarling in the woods nearby and spotted crates in the vehicles, several of them apparently stained with blood. By the end of the night, 26 people had been arrested and charged with dogfighting and cruelty to animals.

This was not a small, local event. According to the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, the people arrested came from nine states plus Washington, DC, including Florida, Mississippi, Michigan, Texas and New York. Officers seized dogs, firearms, 26 vehicles and large amounts of cash. Those details point to an organized operation, and organized cruelty calls for a serious response.

Dogfighting is a felony in Georgia. Plea deals that quietly drop the cruelty charges would tell everyone involved that this kind of event is worth the risk.

Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Parks White should pursue the full penalties under Georgia law for every person charged, with no deals that erase the animal cruelty counts. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and federal prosecutors should also dig into the network that drew people across state lines to watch dogs fight. Federal law treats animal fighting as a serious crime, and a ring with reach this wide deserves that level of attention.

The dogs taken from the scene did nothing wrong. Hart County should make sure every one of them gets veterinary care and an evaluation by a qualified rescue group, so each dog has a real chance at a safe, loving home.

Sign the petition to demand full justice for these dogs before this case fades from the headlines.