Mass. man gets more than a year in jail on dogfighting charges

A man from Hanson

was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for possession of dogs for dogfighting.

The judge’s ruling included a stipulation that John D. Murphy must serve the last three months of his sentence in community confinement and will remain under supervision for three years after his release. Murphy was also fined $10,000 and is prohibited from owning pitbull-type dogs in the future.

For 25 years, “Mr. Murphy brutalized defenseless animals for profit and sport – training them to fight, suffer and die for his own financial gain. His actions were not only illegal but deeply disturbing,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley.

Murphy pled guilty to nine counts of animal possession for the purpose of dog fighting in violation of the Animal Welfare Act in November after being indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2024.

“This sentencing marks a historic moment in the first federal dogfighting conviction in Massachusetts and serves as a stark warning: Those who engage in this barbaric practice will be exposed, prosecuted and punished,” said Foley.

Authorities reported finding nine pitbulls, several with scarring consistent with dogfighting involvement, and animal fighting materials during a search of Murphy’s home in June 2023. In March 2024, the Untied States filed a civil forfeiture complaint to order Murphy and another dogfight participant from Townsend to give up their nine and four dogs, respectively.

Murphy was first identified talking about dogfighting during a recorded call with a New York-based dogfighting target in 2021, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Subsequent searches of Murphy’s Facebook and WhatsApp messages uncovered his discussion of dogfighting results, animal injuries, and breeding, Foley said.

One video on Murphy’s Facebook showed a caged raccoon in front of a treadmill, which a dog was tethered to, to motivate the dog to work harder during its dogfighting conditioning.

In a WhatsApp message uncovered during the investigation in which he shared his frustration over animal control arriving at his house, Murphy expressed that he would “never never never” quit his dogfighting involvement, according to the US Attorney’s Office.