Lt. Reyne Kacsuta was patrolling a Lincoln-Lemington street when a neighbor approached her, concerned that a dogfight had happened in a gray brick house shrouded by a privacy fence and guarded by security cameras.

What police found inside 6441 Clifford St., they said, were signs of a sophisticated dog fighting ring: an aluminum pen littered with syringes; animal steroids and antibiotics; a handgun and two bulletproof vests; cages and crates; the smell of rotting flesh.

Animal control officers seized 11 pit bulls in the raid late Wednesday and found at least one dead dog on a closet floor in the basement.

Three men who darted from the house when the officers arrived were stopped, questioned and released without charges.

Officers worked to obtain arrest warrants yesterday, said Lt. Kevin Kraus, acting commander of the city's Zone 5 station, but he declined to say who or how many people they hoped to charge.

"There are cases of dogfighting that go on in the city," Lt. Kraus said. "This seems to be a little more sophisticated than some."

Neighbors said several men moved into the house about a month ago and brought with them many pit bulls that sometimes barked and yelped long into the night.

The dogs would cry but appeared healthy, so most residents were not suspicious, said several neighbors, who declined to give their names for fear of their safety. One neighbor said the men living in the home drove stakes into the back lawn and chained the dogs there.

Four wire cages with small wooden houses inside them were visible yesterday through the slats of a tall privacy fence. Surveillance cameras peered from a second-floor window toward the street and from a porch toward the front door, where a "Welcome" sign greeted visitors.

Attempts to reach the property owner were unsuccessful.

The dog fighting likely took place inside the house, where officers found a 3-foot-by-5-foot metal tub in the living room. Chains were attached to a device on top of the tub, which would be filled with water and used for dogs to train. Lt. Kraus called it "common equipment used in dog fighting."

The animals would also be injected with the steroid Dexadone and an antibiotic, Baytril, which officers discovered in a refrigerator.

They also seized a computer, zip drives, CDs and DVDs that Lt. Kraus said might contain footage of dogfights, a common practice in the industry.

"It's a big deal," he said. "The mere fact of people raising their dogs to fight is despicable."

Aside from nicks and scratches, the dogs appeared in good condition, if not a bit shaken, at the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania, where they were being held.

When the pit bulls are no longer considered evidence in the case, their health and behavior will be examined to see if they're adoptable, said Rescue League spokeswoman Tifanie Tiberio.

Dogfighting is a felony in the state; Lt. Kraus said police are working with Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. to see what charges are warranted.