Steve Helber / AP

A home owned by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michel Vick is at the center of a dog fighting investigation.

Weigner’s widow denies he was involved in dog fighting, but authorities in Liberty County paint a much different picture.

After Weigner was gunned down, authorities combed his property for clues. Within the home itself, they found the “dog room,” where some 26 animals were cared for in relative comfort.

“It’s my understanding that this is where the high-dollar, high-breed dogs were kept,” said Fairchild, who investigated the case.

Those were the lucky ones. Out back, officers found a barn that was apparently used by birthing mothers. Behind that was a squalid, fenced-off pen where Weigner kept the rest of the more than 300 pit bulls that were on the property the night he was killed.

“It was terrible,” Fairchild said. “Basically, the dogs were chained off to posts and walking around in water with feces floating on top of it. They would chain one dog next to another so they could get close but not get at each other, because they would rip each other apart. Their only housing was these 35-gallon plastic drums that had been turned over in the pen.”

Dr. Kelli Ferris, a professor at North Carolina State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, serves on a state task force that opposes animal fighting, teaches a course to animal cruelty investigators and has been an expert witness in several dog fighting cases.

She’s also treated plenty of animals that emerged from the fighting pit.

“You’ll see the obvious injuries that are consistent with punctures, lacerations from teeth, usually on the face, neck and forelimbs,” Ferris said. “The ones that get chewed up beyond that usually don’t survive.”

The survivors are often covered in old scars, recently healed wounds and fresh injuries. Since a veterinarian is unlikely to be on hand, the animals are subjected to do-it-yourself medical care, including hastily placed staples and rudimentary stitches.

South Carolina’s attorney general Henry McMaster paints an equally gruesome picture.

He tells of dogs being poked with electric prods to make them go harder during training, or being tied to the back of a pickup truck for long, grueling runs. He said he believes family pets have been stolen to serve as “bait dogs” — helpless animals that help ensure a pit bull has the proper bloodlust for an actual fight.

“They will tape the mouth shut so the bait dog can’t hurt their prized pit bull,” McMaster said. “Then they’ll put them in the pit and let them be chewed to pieces. They want their dogs to learn how to kill.”

According to McMaster, investigators have heard of pit bulls being injected with steroids to make them stronger and having cocaine rubbed on their gums so they will be even more hyped up for a fight.

Another major problem, Ferris said, is what to do with pit bulls that are seized from a fighting operation but are too aggressive to be adopted by someone else.

These dogs are certain to be euthanized, but often not until their owner’s case is settled by the courts, a process that can drag on for months or even years.

Perhaps the most telling rule about the nature of this sport is this: Should the police interfere, the referee is to name the next meeting place.

“People who say it’s not in my state,” Ferris said, “are not looking.”

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