At Deborah Beale's house, a group of three children wanted her pit bull so badly, they yanked up her back fence and took off with him. A neighborhood child saw the pet chained up to a tree several streets over and returned him to Ms. Beale's home on Grand Boulevard the next day.

Throughout Augusta, pit bulls, known to breeders as American Staffordshire terriers, have turned up missing in suspicious ways. There have been four reported thefts in the past week and at least 15 this year.

In many cases, neighbors reported seeing a group of young people pulling up fences, removing barricades or cutting chains to take the pit bulls.

"Why are they stealing these dogs?" Ms. Beale asked Monday. "I hear that they make these dogs fight - them and the Rottweilers."

Deborah Beale's pit bull Tiger was stolen from under the fence in her back yard during a recent rash of dog thefts. The dog was returned the next day after friends of her son spotted him chained up in a nearby housing project. JONATHAN ERNST/STAFF

Sheriff's officials have their suspicions about the thefts. Besides the value of pit bulls, they are most likely being trained and used in secret dogfights that take place in rural areas, they say.

"We do get intelligence about dogfighting in the CSRA," said Maj. Ken Autry of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office. "We haven't been able to apprehend anybody or find any dogfighting in Augusta. (But) I do suspect they are happening."

Ms. Beale has good reason to suspect the intended use for Tiger was for dogfighting. She regularly sees children in her neighborhood walking around with pit bulls.

"I seen these little boys going around in the neighborhood, stealing dogs and trying to make dogs fight one another," she said. "They push them into the other dog."

The thought of her stolen pit bull being used in a dogfight is hard for Nicole Smoak to take. Her dog Rufus was stolen last week from the back yard of her Ivey Road home, where she lives with Mr. Ladomirak.

"I hope he's not being used for fighting," she said. "Maybe they took him to breed."

The couple says they feel stupid after realizing they practically advertised the animal to the thieves. A group of three children came to their door last week and asked whether Rufus was a pit bull. They said yes, and the dog went missing that night.

While searching the area, a neighbor said he saw three children walking with a pit bull matching Rufus' description.

If the pit bulls are being stolen for dogfighting, the fights are probably taking place in more rural areas where they can be held without much attention, police say.

Rufus, a pit bull owned by Nicole Smoak and Benjamin Ladomirak, was stolen from their back yard, but the thief left their Jack Russell terriers behind. Rufus has not been returned. JONATHAN ERNST/STAFF

Reports of dogfighting are frequent in areas such as Burke County in Georgia and Edgefield County in South Carolina. But catching someone in the act is tough, authorities say.

"That's what I want to know - where?" Burke County Chief Deputy James Hollingsworth said. "It's hard to get any information on it. They don't put up fliers.

"But we would love to catch someone if they're doing it."

In Edgefield County, the tips paid off in summer 2000 when sheriff's Investigator Randy Doran arrested six men.

On a hot Sunday afternoon, a woman on Gary Hill Road reported a dogfight taking place near the federal prison. The officer parked his car a good distance away from the mobile home park and approached.

Those fighting the dogs were mostly young men in their teens or early 20s. They were betting as much as $500 on their animals.

Most of the men received probation and fines because they had no criminal history, and police were unable to connect the men to any stolen animals.

But despite the arrests, Investigator Doran says he knows dogfighting still occurs.

"We still got it going on around here, we just haven't been able to catch them," he said.

Police say there is not much advice they can give for pet owners to protect their pit bulls except to keep them well-secured. But authorities ask anyone with information about dogfighting to call police.

Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (706) 828-3851 or greg.rickabaugh@augustachronicle.com.