DOGS SEIZED FROM DMX’S HOUSE
August 27, 2007 Rapper DMX is being dogged by legal troubles. On Friday, sheriff's deputies raided the rapper's Arizona home, seizing 12 pit bulls but making no arrests.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office received a tip more than a week ago about dogs being kept in inhumane conditions at the Phoenix-area home, said Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Detectives visited the home and then called one of the rapper's lawyers and told him that the conditions for the animals at the property needed to be improved or deputies would take action, Arpaio said. The dogs were not being fed or given water.
Authorities returned to the home Friday.
The 36-year-old musician and actor, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was not at home during the raid, in which deputies also found a variety of firearms. Authorities sought additional warrants so they could check the guns to determine if they were legal.
Simmons' lawyer, Murray Richman, said Simmons hasn't been in Arizona for at least two months and was "extremely disturbed" to hear the animals weren't being cared for properly.
"We had a caretaker that wasn't taking care, that's what happened," Richman said. "He loves dogs - he loves these animals. Those dogs are practically his family."
The seized dogs are being held at an old jail that has been converted into an animal shelter.
