Metro Detroit Man Runs Dog Fighting Ring, Uses Facebook To Promote It: Officials

RIVER ROUGE, MI — A River Rouge man is in trouble after officials said he ran a dog fighting ring and used social media to promote the fights, Attorney General Dana Nessel's office said.

Kevin Lewis Warren, 52, was charged with three counts of animal fighting, which is a four-year felony and/or $5,000-$50,000 and/or 500-1,000 hours of community service and one count of possessing fighting animals/equipment, a four-year-felony and/or $1,000-$5,000 and/or 250-500 hours of community service, officials said.

Each charge also comes with a prohibition on possessing or owning an animal for five years. He is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 25 at 9 a.m. and on Nov. 1 at noon.

In addition to running the dog fighting ring, Warren also used Facebook to post videos and pictures of animals for dog fights, and to communicate about breeding, selling and fighting dogs, officials said.

The case comes as Nessel announced her office is teaming up with the Michigan Humane Society to investigate and prosecute cases of animal abuse, officials said. The department will provide resources to help Michigan Humane pursue perpetrators of large-scale, multi-jurisdictional, well-organized fighting rings and similar operations.

"I know most Michiganders think of their pets as family members and subjecting those family members to abuse is incomprehensible," Nessel said. "Animal abuse is cruel and sadistic."