Why the Pitbull Terrier Breed?

The Pit Bull Terrier is an extremely versatile dog. They are very muscular and have strong body parts all the way around. The Pit Bulls bite is one of the most strongest bites a dog can give and when they bite they don't let go. They are also known for their undying willingness, power, and passion. They are loyal to their owners and if trained correctly will attack anyone they aren't familiar with. The Pit Bull has short shiny hair and the ears are usually cropped to make them look more intimidating and mean. However people generally get the wrong idea about the breed and tend to think that all Pit Bulls are mean vicious. Depending on how the dog is raised will be the deciding factor on the outcome of how the dog acts around other people and other dogs. If the dog is treated with respect and given the proper attention necessary, than the dog should turn out to be a great loving house pet that everyone knows and loves. The Pit Bull is a very good house dog that will protect and watch over its owners property. They have the ability to act when necessary and if so they will fight til death. The part where people go wrong is when they begin raising the dog the wrong way. If the owner lets the dog know their emotions and sees that the owner is weak and shy, than the dog will get the idea that they are the boss of the house and begin to be aggressive and to much to handle. Understanding the psychology of dogs is very important because dogs feed off human emotions and know when one is weak or injured. In closing, the Pit Bull breed is a unique and beautiful kind of dog and is one that needs attention so that we can save them from being harmed and out of danger.

www.dogbreedinfo.com/americanpitbull.htm

Even the Celebs Fight Dogs

As we all know by now Mike Vick the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons was thrown in prison for dog fighting. He even had a name for his underground fighting business that was called the "Bad Newz Kennelz." Vick had been doing this since 2001 and it all finally caught up to him and he definitely paid the price. Vick really went out of his way to house all the dogs that fought at his own place in Atlanta. He would even have dogs flown in from other states so that they could fight and then later be put death if they didn't hold up to the owners expectations. For Vicks dogs, the ones that lost were usually either drowned, electrocuted, shot, or even hung until they were dead. You would think that someone would feel bad at least once or twice when doing this but this continued in Vicks back yard for years until he finally got what he deserved. Vick ended up spending 20 months in prison and luckily enough for him he was granted another chance to return to the NFL. The thing that bothers me the most is why would someone with all that money want to ruin hundreds of dogs lives when he could be the one giving money to charities for animals in need of help. He was being selfish and only thinking of himself when in reality he wasn't only hurting the dogs, but also ruining the lives of dogs to come, and children who grow up around these brutal violent dog fights.

www.pinemagazine.com/site/article/explainer-dog-fighting-in-the-united-states-886

Can the Dogs Be Rehabilitated?

After doing more research on these dogs and finding out more horrifying facts, the number of dogs that police or animal patrol find in these underground dog fighting is absolutely outrageous. Some dog fighting raids will gather more than 500 hundred dogs from one facility. While reading one article it said that the local authorities and feds were teaming up across eight states to form the largest underground dog fighting raid ever. “Twenty-six people were arrested (five of whom are scheduled to be sentenced to as much as five years in prison on Dec. 8 in St. Louis, Mo.), and more than 500 dogs were rescued, most of them pit bull terriers.” Usually when these dogs are rescued in a raid like this they are severely beat up and look like they have been put through a grinder of some kind. A lot of times the dogs will have eyes missing, or scars around their necks from heavy objects weighing them down, or they will be limp and unable to walk normal. The outcome of these fights is never positive and the rehabilitation process for the dogs can be long brutal. “Busting a breeder means taking custody of the dogs, yet no police department or sheriff's office has the resources to kennel, treat and attempt to rehabilitate dozens, let alone hundreds, of abused animals.” Luckily there are people in this world who care enough to save these dogs and help them get back to as normal as possible. In this case the Humane Society of Missouri and animal protection agencies and thousands of volunteers all joined together to help heal these injured dogs. They opened up an empty warehouse and made hundreds of kennels to hold the dogs in. They also were given plenty of food from many different veterinarians and local feed stores. All of these kind acts will help save these dogs and get them back on their feet. Although there are so many dogs to treat, it does cost a large amount of money to treat all the wounds on these dogs. Depending upon the condition of the dog, the doctors will see how much they can do, but nonetheless these animals are being rescued and taken away from a life of hate and disgust.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1942950,00.html?iid=tsmodule

The Victims

“His face is a mass of deep cuts, as are his shoulders and neck. Both of his front legs have been broken, but Billy Bear isn’t ready to quit. At the referee’s signal, his master releases him, and unable to support himself on his front legs, he slides on his chest across the blood and urine stained carpet, propelled by his good hind legs, toward the opponent who rushes to meet him. Driven by instinct, intensive training and love for the owner who has brought him to this moment, Billy Bear drives himself painfully into the other dog’s charge... Less than 20 minutes later, rendered useless by the other dog, Billy Bear lies spent beside his master, his stomach constricted with pain. He turns his head back toward the ring, his eyes glazed (sic) searching for a last look at the other dog as (sic) receives a bullet in his brain.”

I felt that this quote was an excellent way of describing the pain and and sorrow the dog has, but at the same time the dog has no choice but to listen his master and fight for his or her life. The first victims in all these dog fighting cases are undoubtedlythe dogs. Most of these dogs that are involved with urban underground dog fighting are extremely hard to track down by the police because none of them are licensed and can be bought on the street for a few hundred dollars. The owners of the dogs may have a love or connection with the animal, but obviously not the right kind of love. Most dog fighting owners see their dogs as disposable since once they are injured they're considered worthless.

The next victim in this case is the children. When children are exposed to dog fighting at such a young age they are desensitized and scarred for life if things don't change quick. Most of the children who are interacting with dog fights are children from cities with high crime rate. These high crime cities have a lot of gang related activity which tends to attract dog fighting as a way of life. The children of the these cities don't have the proper role models to look up after so they are challenged at a young age to deal adversity and making the right decision. "Dogs aren’t the only victims. Primary and middle-school aged kids are commonly invited to watch and even partake in dog fighting activities. It’s “sold” as a “sport,” no different than watching a football game. Of course, it is very different. Gangbangers actually realize that watching the horrific events of a dogfight desensitizes kids to violence."

http://www.stevedalepetworld.com/content/view/277/71/

http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusdogfighting.htm

The Culture

Dog fighting is a terrible act of animal cruelty and the people who think it is okay to fight dogs until they die should be found and punished. Although it just isn’t that easy, unfortunately dog fighting is something that continues to spread rapidly even though it is banned in all 50 states. “An estimated 40,000 people in the US are thought to be involved in "professional" dog fighting, using some 250,000 dogs.” People of all different kinds join to watch the event and take pleasure in watching these helpless animals fight with one another for sometimes over an hour. During the fight bets are being placed and money is running high among all the spectators and gamblers.

Before the fights take place the dogs are brutally trained to until their trainer feels the dog has reached its highest peak of aggression. The dogs are tossed in the ring and blood then begins to fly. The underground networks publicize these events to where they charge people to watch even if they are not there to gamble. According to the Humane Society some bets get as high as 100,000 dollars and up and winners take home a large amount of money after a successful day in the ring. In most cases the dog that is the champion that day will live to see more fights and hopefully continue to win. The more fights one dog has under his or her belt the higher the bets are which make the fight more exciting for those who wish to gamble on the dogs. Not all the time does the winner live, there are many things that can still kill the dog after the fight is over. Things like blood loss and shock can cause the dog to die if it’s not treated properly, and if the dog is injured to badly the owner will kill the dog themselves and move on to the next big winner. “When Vick's property in Virginia was raided, 54 pit bull terriers were found, some with apparent dog fighting injuries, as well as training equipment like a treadmill and a stick used to pry open dogs' jaws.” The culture of dog fighting is extremely diverse just like America is today. It is widespread and people can join at all different levels of dog fighting depending on how much they are willing to put into their dog and all the levels of necessary training. Even superstars like Mike Vick are into the dog fighting business and think it is alright to kill innocent dogs, but after doing some time in the penitentiary I think he realizes what he did was wrong and sick.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6960788.stm

http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusdogfighting.htm

Brief History of Dog Fighting

In 1817 the dog was first brought to America and introduced to the American culture. Before the dog had come to America, dogs have been fighting since the Roman times. Things however were a little different than and dogs weren’t just fighting dogs. The Romans would throw the dogs in the ring inside the Coliseum and let them fight against animals such as bears, and bulls. The dogs were overpowered by these other massive animals, but the bloody fight was a thrill to the Romans and people of the medieval times. The sport eventually grew and spread to England, but came to a halt in 1835 when it was outlawed Parliament of the Humane Act of 1835.

When the dog was finally brought to America in 1817 the United Kennel Club took control over the dog fights and actually started running the first organized dog fighting club. This club provided referees to call the fights and make sure the fights went accordingly. “Although dog fighting had become illegal in most states by the 1860’s, it continued to flourish as an American pastime through the early twentieth century. By the 1930’s and 1940’s, the blood sport had been driven further underground as high profile organizations such as the United Kennel Club withdrew their endorsement.” It was just a matter of time until the Kennel would lose their endorsement with dogs and organized fighting. In 1976 dog fighting was outlawed in all states and was a felony charge in 48 of the states. Without a doubt dog fighting is a terrible crime but is something that hasn’t been controlled to heavily by law enforcement in past times and is beginning to become more of a concern as it should.

http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusdogfighting.htm

Unusual and Cruel Ways To Train Dogs

Training dogs for a fight isn’t just some good old fashioned take your dog for a walk kind of thing. In fact, it is nothing like that all and the training methods for these dogs is just cruel and unheard of. Most dogs as one would think begin their training at an earlier age so that their mind is trained as well as their body. Some trainers are different than others to where some go to the absolute extreme and some may just do what they feel is enough. Depending on how much experience the dog trainer has, some dogs are trained more viciously and cruel than others, but nonetheless no dog should go through what some of these trainers put them through. Here are some common methods of training before a dog enters the cage to battle his or her opponent: “Treadmill: Dogs are run on the treadmills to increase cardiovascular fitness and endurance.
Catmill/Jenny: Apparatus that looks like a carnival horse walker with several beams jetting out from a central rotating pole. The dogs are chained to one beam and another small animal like a cat, small dog, or rabbit, is harnessed to or hung from another beam. The dogs run in circles, chasing the bait. Once the exercise sessions are over, the dogs are usually rewarded with the bait they had been pursuing.
Weights: Weights are often affixed to chains and dangled from the dogs’ necks. This builds neck and upper body strength. Generally, dogs are permanently chained this way. However, sometimes the trainers run them with their weights attached.
Bait: Animals are tied up while the dogs tear them apart or sometimes they are confined in an area to be chased and mauled by the dogs.
Drugs/Vitamins/Supplements: Dogs are given vitamins, supplements and drugs to condition them for or to incite them to fight. Commonly utilized vitamins, supplements, and drugs include: iron/liver extract; vitamin B-12; Provim; Magnum supplement; hormones (testosterone, Propionate, Repotest, Probolic Oil); weight-gain supplements; creatine monohydrate; speed; steroids (Winstrol V, Dinabol, Equipose); and cocaine.” (Hanna Gibson)
If you read from the list above it is just crazy and horrifying to read some of the methods of training that these dogs are put through. The trainers will get another live animal and throw it in the cage with the trained fighting dog and at that pointy the animal which is the bait is mauled and usually brutally killed by the trained dog. There are many other kinds of training tactics also for the dogs to learn how to attack one another. The trainers will have a leash on two dogs and they will let them lunge toward each other as if they were going to engage in a fight, but they don’t let them touch one another so it is almost like teasing them and angering the dog even more. The most cruel form of training I read about was giving the dog drugs to enhance their size, speed, and endurance all aspects of what will make a dog a so called champion dog fighter. You don't train any dogs to fight, it is an ability stores in their genes to be enhanced by owners like bird dogs, they have it in them, most will, but some won't, all must be treated with respect and trained to enhance abilities.”

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_is_a_pitbull_trained_to_fight
http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusdogfighting.htm

Innocent Dogs Bred for Death

Dog fighting is a disturbing, horrifying scene that is an organized crime known mostly in the undergrounds. It was said to have started in the medieval gentry and then progressed into something more until it was outlawed in the United States of America. This so called sport is taken place mostly in the south and particularly in the countryside and urban areas of different communities and cities. When the sport first started really becoming an issue the law enforcement didn’t seem to show as much attention and affection towards what was being done. Thousands and thousands of dogs are killing each other every day and somehow that number just kept increasing until someone or somebody finally put their foot down. In the past, dog fighting was better known to the law and society as an “isolated animal welfare issue.” That name is no longer the title of dog fighting but just goes to show how much attention was drawn to the subject, and that to some was fun hearted easy money.
Not only are dog fights cruel and extremely sad, they are also something that can affect someone for life. Dog fighting in some places is all people know. Instead of children growing up with a cute little furry miniature poodle, they’re growing up with hundreds of pit bulls in their back yards who want to eat them for lunch. I just think it is absolutely crazy what some children have to see at such a young age from an animal that most think of as a family pet. The act of dog fighting is scarring and violent and takes place way too often. After reading up some things on dog fights the things I read were just chilling and brutal. Some law enforcement agents said that they were just appalled by the scene after the fight had already taken place and couldn’t believe what their eyes were seeing. Walls just covered in blood, dead dogs lying on the ground, and many tools and instruments used throughout the whole process of the fog fights.
Clearly the issue of dog fighting is still a problem and will continue to be one, because of all the sick and heartless people that think breeding dogs to kill each other is okay to do. They make money and get a thrill out of this act so why not continue to do it. I just hope and pray that when their turn comes and they get caught in the act of dog fighting they realize what kind of sick person they really are.

http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusdogfighting.htm