07/10/2009

Associated Press

Two Missouri men arrested in a wide-reaching dogfighting raid are scheduled to appear in federal court in Kansas City.

A federal magistrate is expected to rule Thursday on whether prosecutors can keep Rick Hihath of St. Joseph and Cris Bottcher of Gilman City in custody without bond.

The men were arrested after raids this week on dogfighting operations in Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Mississippi.

The federal indictment says Bottcher, a 48-year-old registered nurse at a community hospital in Bethany, was accused of shooting underperforming dogs and putting their carcasses in plastic containers.

Hihath, a 55-year-old physical education teacher at a state school for the severely disabled, is accused of promoting fights at Bottcher's farm.