Charges were filed against Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter after two of his dogs mauled a neighbor's animal to death. September 21, 2006.

A mini horse sounds like the perfect prey for dogs in a pack. And 2+ dogs without a human make their own pack. They select their own pack leader and do what their genes tell them to do, hunt and kill some prey. That is why every city has dog catchers.

Porter's dogs had attacked before.

"One neighbor said that one day, the dogs did get out and mauled another neighbor's dog.

Emil Vertullo said he was walking his dog Sissy in the alley behind his house and that he didn't see Porter's pit bulls until it was too late.

"The dog jumped their fence, the neighbor's fence, the gate and down in the alley and just chewed her up," said Vertullo. "I picked up a big stone, you know and I couldn't. It was jumping all over the place and just throwing her up in the air. I got scared."

A neighbor that didn’t want to show her face on camera said after the attack, she saw Porter's white pit bull in front of his house, all bloody."

So why didn't Porter have a criminal record? Because the neighbors went along with a cover up. "Some neighbors said Porter paid to keep things quiet though. It was all through the neighborhood," said neighbor Charlie Hallock. "It was no secret that Joey's dog did attack the wiener-schnitzel dog and he more or less just covered it up."

So the neighbors did not have the backbone to press charges the first time. They let the little crime slip and crime got bigger next time. You can find out criminal history including sex offenders for your Pennsylvania background check. The Pennsylvania State Police website at http://www.psp.state.pa.us/psp/site/default.asp has downloadable criminal history request form online. Once you fill this form, you will need to submit it with a money order or certified check for $10 and mail the request to their office. And several companies offer background search of criminal records with immediate reports right on the internet. If Porter had criminal record, maybe he would have stopped being careless with killer dogs.