How did a convicted dogfighter escape prosecution?
“If we knew now what we knew then, we could have done a lot differently.” –Roger Kadell, Columbia County Animal Control Officer
Stover E. Harger III / The South County Spotlight
It’s been nearly seven months since officers responded to the rural Scappoose home of Eduardo Jose Ribaya — a twice-convicted dogfighter with a resume of brutality in California and Washington.
It doesn’t take much searching to discover that the 57-year-old Ribaya — once known as “the Pineapple Kid” in dog fighting circles — is somewhat of a celebrity in that world. The Humane Society of the United States even has their own file on the man.
So when Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Columbia County Animal Control reported finding equipment on his property known to be used for training fighting dogs and marijuana plants— after being called to Ribaya’s Dike Road home on July 3 when his two pit bulls attacked a calf — it gave the appearance of an open and shut case.
At least, that is, to some locals who have questioned why Ribaya has yet to receive — if he ever does — a formal charge for either the marijuana or what is alleged to be the potential beginnings of another dogfighting operation.
When the Columbia County Board of Commissioners began hearings to determine the dogs’ fates a few months after they attacked the calf — which later died — Ribaya tried to save his dogs from euthanasia. The dogs are still in county care, but Ribaya, who is believed to now be residing in Portland, hasn’t made any more court appearances.
At the moment a Sheriff’s Office drug investigation still remains open. There is no investigation, however, to look into the apparent dogfighting equipment, which is also used by some to get dogs in shape for other, legal, purposes.
But how did we get from there to here.
Sheriff Jeff Dickerson asserts that a lack of manpower is one reason no formal charges have been brought against Ribaya, but that isn’t the only reason. His office forwarded their report about the controlled substance offense allegations to the District Attorney’s office, but it was sent back because the DA’s office didn’t feel there was enough evidence to go on. As far as the presumed dogfighting equipment, Dickerson said the items found at his home are often used for other purposes. It would be hard to prove that they were for training animals to fight, he said.
Dickerson said that if the Animal Control office were to find additional evidence of dogfighting he would move forward with an investigation.
But Animal Control Officer Roger Kadell said that would be difficult, considering he has no power to take on investigations. He thinks that things could have worked differently if officers, including himself, were aware of just how to handle a dogfighting investigation at the time. There may have been confusion about who should handle that part of the investigation, him or the Sheriff’s Office, he said.
“Dogfighting isn’t something we see in this county,” he said.
“If we knew now what we knew then, we could have done a lot differently,” he said.
When Ribaya’s name hit the newspapers a few months after the calf attack, calls started pouring in — including one from the Attorney General’s office — that pointed out Ribaya’s past history, Kadell said.
The investigation was smoldering, Kadell said, and over months it became more difficult to investigate. Now that Ribaya has moved out of Scappoose it is even more so. With him, he took the instruments that Kadell believes were for dogfighting, including a treadmill, a hanging spring line and more.
But, like Dickerson, Kadell said that resources are a huge factor. There just isn’t the amount of available officers that there once were to undertake an investigation like this. Kadell wants to ask the Sheriff to grant him the ability to investigate things like animal fighting, but that hasn’t even been discussed formally.
“We are all operating on a shoestring,” Kadell said.
Eduardo Ribaya’s history of dog fighting
• Feb. 1995 — Ribaya is arrested, and later convicted, along with 75 others for participating in a regional dog fighting championship in San Francisco. He was alleged to have been central in organizing the event. He received three years probation.
• June 1996 — Ribaya was arrested in Oakland, Calif., for living with 39 abused pit bulls. He was charged with animal cruelty and sentenced to 16 months in prison.
• Oct. 2004 — Ribaya was arrested and later sentenced to one year in prison for animal fighting in Vancouver, Wash. Police seized 21 pit bulls and numerous pieces of dog fighting equipment.
• July 2009 — Ribaya is fined after his two pit bulls attack a calf in Scappoose. Marijuana is reported to be found on his property and an investigation is still open, but no charges have been filed.