Two Charged With Dogfighting In Stone County, 15 Dogs Rescued:

Two men from Stone County have been charged with dogfighting after a seven month investigation by the Stone County Sheriff's Office and officers with the C.O.M.E.T drug task force.

An undercover agent entered into a "contract" withJon P. Stingley to purchase a pit bull named Whiskey with the understanding that Stingley, 42, would teach the dog to fight. The agent went to Stingley's property at 3760 State Hwy 13 in Lampe on July 7th to observe the progress of the dog, Stingley pitted Whiskey and another dog against each other briefly. Another man who was there, Don Owens, 41, of Blue Eye, pried the jaws of the dog off of the other. Immediately after the dogfight the undercover officer served Stingley the search warrant and he and Owens were busted.

The Humane Society says seven adult pit bulls and eight puppies about two weeks old were rescued from the property.

The dogs were rescued from Jon P. Stingley's property in Lampe

The investigation began last December after Stone County Sheriff Richard Hill received a tip about dog fighting at the Lampe property. Sheriff Hill asked C.O.M.E.T to assist in the investigation as they have the resources to send in undercover officers.

Stone County Chief Deputy Rich Anderson says the older dogs were found chained to logs on a heavily wooded hillside that is littered with abandoned trucks, dilapidated out buildings and trash. A humane society worker says the dogs were fed what appeared to be pig slop.

Anderson says authorities seized documents in the raid that indicate dogfighting took place at the property. Anderson says, "I think we got 'em all. There was some evidence of business transactions that look like some dogs were sold...but we got all of them that were on the property."

Anderson says that his office contacted the Humane Society when they knew the warrant had been approved. Stingley voluntarily surrendered the dogs to the Humane Society facility in St. Louis for treatment. Their goal is to rehabilitate the dogs and place them up for adoption.


Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby has charged Stingley with seven felony counts of dogfighting. One is from December of last year, the other seven are dated July 7th. Owens has been charged with six counts of felony dogfighting.

Both men are being held in the Stone County jail on $25,000 cash only bonds.

Ironically, the bust in Stone County took place on the one-year anniversary of the largest dogfighting raid in U.S. history. Twenty-six suspects were arrested and more than 500 dogs rescued in a series of busts in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.