Inside Report (3)

Law-enforcement officials in the US are being frustrated in their efforts to crack down on organized dogfighting. Police recently raided a dogfight near Augusta, Ga., attended by more than 150 persons. As a result, 18 of the spectators face gambling and other charges.

But in the four years since passage of a federal law against dogfighting, the US Department of Agriculture -- responsible for its enforcement -- has prosecuted only one case. Congress never set aside any enforcement funds. And local police usually have higher priorities.

Animal control officials in Atlanta say the fights go on "all over," contending that spectators usually are tipped off when a raid is planned -- sometimes by police themselves.

What especially bothers animal control officials is that some spectators take their children along, exposin g them to gambling and brutality.m