By MATT CHANDLER
mchandler@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1654

Despite public outcry in the wake of the much-publicized dogfighting case involving Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, dogfighting remains a financially powerful part of the underground gambling market.

The world of pitting dog against dog while spectators wager, at times, large sums of money surfaced again in Buffalo with the recent conviction of 41-year-old Dwayne Nelson. He was sentenced Dec. 13 to three years of probation and six months of home detention following his conviction on charges of sponsoring and exhibiting an animal in an animal-fighting venture.

The case centered around charges that Nelson put a dog he controlled into a dogfight and then wagered and lost $4,000 on the fight. It's the third conviction to come out of the case, following the earlier convictions of Edward Bishop and Leon Nelson.

This was not an isolated incident for Nelson who, according to the U.S. Attorney's office, had previously put his dogs in illegal fights and went as far as to track their fight history on a website.

The convictions of the three men are the first for the newly formed Western New York Animal Fighting Task Force.