Southeast Missouri dogfighting case going to trial

Sufficient evidence exists to show that three men arrested in October and charged with multiple counts of dogfighting should be held for trial, two separate judges ruled Thursday.

First, Judge Joe Z. Satterfield decided that Jamie D. Sifford, 29, of Dudley, Mo., and Jessey Short, 30, of Cape Girardeau, should be bound over for circuit court following a two-hour preliminary hearing in Stoddard County.

Then, a second preliminary hearing was held for Curtis Pickering, 28, of South Fulton, Tenn., and Judge Stephen R. Mitchell ruled that the state presented sufficient evidence to show Pickering committed the crimes.

Testimony showed that investigators staked out the Dudley, Mo., home of Sifford on Oct. 20 around 6:30 p.m. because of an anonymous tip that dog fights would be taking place at the residence later that evening.

After securing a search warrant for the property, police returned shortly after midnight, accompanied by three investigators from the Missouri Humane Society to find all three men still on the premises and miscellaneous equipment commonly associated with dogfighting.

No actual dog fight was taking place when police arrived, a fact highlighted by Stephen Walsh, defense attorney for Pickering. A search of Short's vehicle revealed a treadmill believed to have been used to train fighting dogs, and a tape showing clips from actual dogfights was discovered in the glove box of a sport utility vehicle registered to

Pickering. Sifford and Short were scheduled for arraignment on Dec. 19, and Pickering's hearing was set for Dec. 5.