Convicted dog fighter attempts to save his confiscated pit bulls from euthanasia

By Erica Ryberg

The South County Spotlight, Dec 9, 2009 (4 Reader comments)

Submitted photo / The South County Spotlight

CUSTODY — The tan male pit bull that Columbia County Animal Control removed from Eduardo Ribaya's property last July has remained in county custody ever since.

ADVERTISEMENTS

The two pit bulls of former Scappoose resident Eduardo Ribaya, a convicted dog fighter, may still get a chance to live after a county ruling in September that said the animals would be put to sleep because they mauled a calf.

Last week, Columbia County Judge Jenefer Grant told the attorney of Ribaya, 57, that she would be willing to entertain placement for the dogs if he could locate a suitable home for the pit bulls.

What she wasn’t likely to do, she said, was send the male and female pit bulls home with Ribaya, who has served years in jail for animal fighting in Washington in 2006 and in Northern California in the 1990s.

Ribaya’s attorney, Anthony Porras had filed for the judge to review the process by which the Columbia County Commissioners ruled that the dogs be euthanized and that Ribaya would be held liable for civil penalties of $1,000 for each dog plus boarding fees.

“We felt the process wasn’t fair and impartial,” Porras said at the hearing.

Assistant County Counsel Spencer Parsons, however, said that the process the County Commissioners used is standard practice across the state.

All action the county has taken so far against Ribaya has centered on livestock laws that allow for civil penalties and for the elimination of the threat of attack that the dogs pose. So far, no charges have been filed against Ribaya for either his alleged possession of dog fighting equipment or for his alleged cultivation of the marijuana plants that deputies say they found on his property.

Meanwhile the dogs have been in the custody of Columbia County Animal Control since the agency removed them from Ribaya’s Scappoose home last July after they mauled a calf. At the time, Columbia County Animal Control Officer Roger Kadell documented the presence of equipment associated with dog fighting, including a treadmill and a jaw strengthening device. Since they’ve been in the county’s care, Kadell said, the male dog has shown signs of aggression.

1 | 2 Next Page >>