Shortly after a pit bull was doused with gasoline and set on fire in West Baltimore in late May, I went out with an animal control officer to see people treat their pets in this city. One of the first stops was a house on Patterson Park Avenue, where Wesley Sanders lived. A woman who lived down the street accused his two pit bulls, one named Savage, of attacking her smaller dog.

The animal control officer, Ricky Martin, went into the house and talked with the 30-year-old Sanders, who denied the allegation and emerged with his two dogs who played on his front steps while I videotaped the scene (see above).

That investigation is still pending, but I've learned that less than a month later, on June 25, police raided that very rowhouse and arrested Sanders on charges of selling drugs. According to charging documents, police broke down his front door and found suspected cocaine, a digital scale, a mirror with white residue on it, a sifter with white residue on it, small bags with 1,000 gel caps, used to package drugs, and, between two mattresses, a Taurus .357 Magnum handgun loaded with six bullets. Inside a nightstand of another bedroom, police said they found a ammunition for a .38 caliber revolver.

Police sa that Sanders has been convicted of attempted murder and with selling drugs in Baltimore County. I don't know yet what happened to his two dogs but I'm checking. It does demonstrate just how dangerous a job it is even for animal control officers.