Many people end up at www.UnchainYourDog.org
because they are looking for information on dog fighting. We agree with
hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons that Cruel's Not Cool (Listen
to Simmons or see
poster).
Please, have a heart and treat other living and feeling creatures the way
you want to be treated: with respect and kindness. Dogs are social animals who
- in the wild - hunt together, sleep
together, and play together. It is a dog's nature to respect the pack
leader and get along with the rest of the pack. Not to fight. Dogfighting is cruel,
unnatural, and wrong.
Dog fighting is a felony, so report it to the police! To learn more about
dog fighting and how to stop it, visit our
Dogfighting page.
14 Pit Bulls Used for Fights Seized
Tallahasee Democrat
www.news-press.com
August 24, 2006 - TALLAHASSEE - Leon County animal-control officers picked up 14 pit bulls Tuesday night that were bloodied, battered and scarred from dogfighting in the 3600 block of Blue Bird Road.
When Leon County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the Crown Ridge neighborhood house just after 8 p.m., they saw a crowd of people standing in a circle scatter, Chris Chase, Sheriff's Office spokesman, said.
Three people took a dog and fled in a car, he said. Deputies are still trying to determine which dogs lived on the property and if there are multiple owners. Although no charges have been filed, the Sheriff's Office anticipates arrests, Chase said.
Dogfighting, possessing a fight dog or being a spectator are felonies.
The dogs had internal parasites and needed other medical attention. They were not implanted with microchips, and they did not have any rabies immunization information. Officers took the pit bulls to the Tallahassee-Leon Animal Service Center.
The Humane Society received a complaint a few months ago from someone in the neighborhood, said Jennifer Hobgood, program coordinator for the Southeast region Humane Society of the United States.
"It's so underground," she said. "It's a sadistic kind of contest. They're specifically bred and trained and conditioned to fight."
Tuesday's roundup had the most dogs Richard Ziegler, animal service center director, has seen at once in the five years he's worked with the center, he said. It's difficult to quantify how many dog fights happen in Leon County, he said.
"The calls we get are infrequent," he said.
But the center receives calls often about dogs being chained up and not being fed, which is how the animals are conditioned to be aggressive, Ziegler said.
"The first thing they'll do is fight," he said. "That's their life. That's their behavior."
Many of the fights that law enforcement officers see involve gambling, Chase said.
"Groups that gamble and bet on dogfights make upwards of thousands of dollars on bets," he said.
Any breed of dog can be conditioned to fight. Once that behavior is instilled in an animal, it faces a bleak future, even if it is rescued.
"Unfortunately, some are put to sleep," Ziegler said. "If you catch them early enough, they're adoptable."
The center has not yet determined what will happen to the dogs.
