S.C. man
sentenced to 40 years in jail on dogfight charges
By Sammy Fretwell
Knight Ridder
A man called the nation's No. 2 breeder of pit bull
dogs was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison on
dog-fighting and assault charges in what state
prosecutors say is an unprecedented case.
David Tant, a 57-year-old North
Charleston resident, pleaded guilty in
Greenwood County to 41 counts of dog fighting and
one count of assault and battery of a high and
aggravated nature. The sentence by Circuit
Judge Wyatt Saunders is thought to be the
heaviest levied against anyone charged with dog
fighting in South Carolina, the state attorney
general's office said. It also is one of the
heaviest handed out nationally, said Sandy
Christiansen, a dog- ighting expert with the
Humane Society of the United States.
Tant can shave 10 years off the
sentence if he pays more than $100,000 in
restitution for activities associated with the
crimes, but he must serve the bulk of the
remaining 30 years, prosecutor Jennifer Evans
said "This sends a message to dog fighters and
people who would participate in this vicious,
brutal activity that there are consequences
for their actions," Attorney General Henry McMaster
said. "This man deserved a substantial sentence."
Tant has long been associated
with dog fighting from advertisements in
magazines linked to the sport and breeding animals
for use in fighting, S.C. authorities say.
Christiansen said Tant sold fighting dogs
nationally and internationally. Tant ran into
trouble last spring after a surveyor was shot and
injured by a booby-trapped gun on Tant's property.
That led authorities to raid his land, where
they seized 47 pit bulls and other materials
as evidence.
Tant said little in court
Monday and was taken to jail after the guilty
pleas. Family members, hoping to minimize the
sentence, had said Tant was a good,
church-going man. Tant faced more than 200
years in prison on all the charges. Efforts to
reach Tant's attorney, Dale Cobb, were unsuccessful
Monday.
McMaster said resolution of the
case gives state prosecutors experience and
legal precedent to move forward with a crackdown on
dog fighting. Since a state dog-fighting task
force was formed last spring, authorities have
made criminal cases against at least 28 people. The
attorney general's office has cases pending against
at least 22 people.
Until this year, cases against
dog fighters in South Carolina have been
sporadic. The Humane Society of the United
States hailed the state's successful
prosecution of Tant as an important message to dog
fighters nationwide. "Mr. Tant has been around
a long time in this business," the Humane
Society's Eric Sakach said. "This is a good thing
for South Carolina and a good thing
nationally."
About 40,000 people are estimated
to participate in dog fighting across the
country. According to a police training video shown
recently in Columbia, dog fighting is a $500 million
underground industry nationally
