Roseville

Family worries dog was stolen for use in fighting rings

By Robin Ruehlen
C & G Staff Writer

ROSEVILLE — Jerry Tranchmontagne’s 11-year-old female Akita was a smart, well-trained family dog who devoted her life to loving and protecting those around her.

“I never thought it would be the other way around — that I’d have to rescue her,” he said.

Tranchmontagne believes Kita, the family’s beloved 100-pound “baby,” was forcibly taken from his yard in the 17000 block of Cross Street by professional dog snatchers who have been known to use large family dogs as bait in dog-fighting rings.

Kita was trained never to leave the interior of the family’s yard, which is surrounded by a 6-foot wooden privacy fence.

“You could leave the gate open and call to her, coax her, but she would not leave that yard,” he said.

“There was no way she could have gotten out on her own.”

Around 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25, Tranchmontagne said he was taking a walk around the block when he encountered a suspicious man.

“Usually when you pass someone on the sidewalk, they look at you or say hello. This guy actually turned away and hid his face from me, and I knew in the back of my mind he was up to something,” he recalled.

While at work the next morning, he received a frantic call from his wife, Dawn — Kita was missing.

“My wife started knocking on doors, and we found that our neighbor down the street just had her 100-pound Rottweiler stolen from her yard two weeks ago,” he said.

Another resident at the Roseville Police Station told Dawn Tranchmontagne that her husband had caught someone trying to drag the family dog out of their yard several weeks ago.

“We talked to Animal Control, and the more we investigate, the more we’re finding out things we don’t want to hear,” he said.

Tranchmontagne said he was told that dogs like Kita — large, strong and slightly older — are targets for those who run illegal dog-fighting rings.

“We were told these people use them for bait dogs, that they put them up against the fighting dogs to warm them up for the big fights,” he said.

“The animals they steal aren’t vicious, they’re just family dogs that will put up something of a fight. And it’s killing us to hear it.”

According to the American Kennel Club, the Akita breed originated in Japan, and was historically used to hunt bears and serve as guard dogs. The thick double-coat and broad, powerful jaws can make for an intimidating sight, which is why Tranchmontagne doesn’t think the average thief would have ventured into his enclosed yard after Kita.

The family has been to the Macomb County Animal Shelter in Mount Clemens and the Detroit Animal Control Shelter, but has received no word on Kita’s whereabouts. Tranchmontagne said she was wearing dog tags and a collar.

“My main goal is to get her back, but I also want to warn the public,” he said.

“That dog has always guarded us, and I never, ever thought I’d have to protect her from people doing this kind of thing. The bad economy plays a part in it, but I consider these people to be the bottom-feeders of our society, and I’d like to stop them.”

“My kids are just heartbroken.”

Deputy Police Chief James Berlin said although he’s heard of such things happening in other cities, he is not aware of a large dog-fighting problem in metro Detroit.

“I don’t know of any other complaints of the same type, but we’re going to research it, and open an investigation if needed,” he said.

Tranchmontagne said the suspicious person he saw was a white male, between the ages of 23 and 26, approximately 6 feet tall, with black hair and glasses.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Robin Ruehlen at rruehlen@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1105.