Feds seek seizure of 50 pit bulls linked to KC dog fighting ring, court records show
Federal law enforcement officials are seeking the forfeiture of nearly 50 dogs, including a swath of puppies, from a Kansas City man who they allege is linked to a dog fighting ring.
As part of civil forfeiture proceedings related to the dogs in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, federal prosecutors filed documents this week detailing information from an investigation at the residence of Vinol Wilson in the 8500 block of Hillcrest Road, where the dogs were seized in May.
Federal officials are seeking to have Wilson’s rights to the dogs terminated and to be awarded costs for caring for the animals.
Officials said 15 adult dogs and one 4-week-old puppy were taken from the property, and that later, four of the dogs went into labor and had puppies.
Currently, the only related criminal charge Wilson, 51, appears to be facing is a felon in possession of a firearm charge for a Stag Arms AR pistol he allegedly had in his home on May 20, the day law enforcement executed a search warrant at the residence. A trial for that matter is scheduled for Sept. 15.
Chekasha Ramsey, an attorney for Wilson, didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday.
In court documents in that case, a Lee’s Summit police detective wrote that the Jackson County Drug Task Force was investigating Wilson as a supplier of drugs in the Kansas City metro and said the man had been a target of a dog-fighting investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2022.
As law enforcement was executing a search warrant at the Hillcrest Road residence, they allegedly found Wilson, two other adults, three children and evidence of dog fighting, according to court documents.
Court documents in the forfeiture case said investigators found “pit bull fighting-type dogs” throughout the residence, including some with visible injuries and scars consistent with being fighting animals. Some were found in a basement, others in a shed and in the backyard. One was chained to the ground.
Law enforcement allegedly found indications of a fighting pit in the garage and blood throughout the house, including in the garage, the basement, a wash tub, on a door and on a roll of carpet in Wilson’s vehicle.
They also found a dog treadmill and a traditional treadmill, “break sticks” used to pry open dogs’ jaws during a fight and “numerous” documents related to dog fighting throughout the home. Investigators also found medications, ledgers with names and addresses of other known dog fighters and a “how-to” guide for training a fighting dog, according to court documents.
Investigators said Wilson was wearing a shirt with a pit bull on it and that identified an event he had hosted previously.
Law enforcement spoke to one dog fighter who allegedly admitted to being at an event at Wilson’s home on May 17. He was stopped in his vehicle May 18 and had dog-fighting paraphernalia and a wounded dog that had competed in the event, according to court documents.
