Portsmouth, Va. - A dog attack investigation led police to a marijuana grow operation, according to court documents.
The investigation started after a 5-year-old girl was attacked on Kearney Way in Portsmouth a couple weeks ago.
She was severely injured in the attack.
The dog's owners Amanda and Philip Butler, are charged with having a vicious dog, according to police.
On Oct. 2, police executed search warrants in connection to that charge, looking for evidence about any training it had as an attack dog. The search warrants were for Philip Butler's Facebook page and the couple's home.
A search warrant lists several items taken by police, including an "agitation whip" and four awards for "Best Beast in the East."
According to a Probable Cause Summary, police also uncovered a marijuana grow operation in the garage while searching the house.
The document says it had a separate room specifically fashioned to grow marijuana along with fertilizer, lamps and a grow tent. Similar items were also found in a bedroom, according to the summary, and detectives recovered several guns and about a thousand dollars in cash.
Another document says police also found several bullet holes inside the house. The Probable Cause Summary says Amanda Butler told police her husband becomes angry when he drinks and sometimes shoots his weapon inside the house.
Another search warrant reveals items used to grow marijuana, including custom built planting tables, concealed in a "false custom built wall in the detached garage."
