Multi-state dog fighting ring busted
These stories are just so horribly sad for me.
In a story posted this morning on the Daily Breeze Web site, AP reports that as many as 350 dogs have been seized and 20 people arrested in dogfighting raids across five states.
Animal groups say it's the largest simultaneous raid of dogfighting operations in the U.S. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals cooperated in the investigation. The raid was conducted by task forces involving federal, state and local law enforcement agencies:
Dogfighting is banned throughout the United States and is a felony in 48 states. President George W. Bush signed a law two years ago that increased penalties for activities that promote or encourage animal fighting after a long campaign by animal-welfare groups.
Who knows how many of these dogs can now be rehabilitated as pets. Dogs who lose are executed. And sadly, weaker, smaller animals, including cats, are often used as "bait" by these criminals to "train" the fighting dogs to be viscious.
It all makes you wonder who the real animals are in these cases, doesn't it?
Somewhat related: Weigh in on our earlier post about pit bulls.
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About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.
Any type of animal abuse is intollerable. Thank God that law enforcement agencies are finally taking these dog fighting rings as serious crimes! Twenty years ago we couldn't get local agencies to go after the fighting that was taking place in the "Third World" area of Wilmington and other areas. We found that the maimed and dead dogs disn't seem to get government officials to take action. It seemed that only the big bucks involved in betting and the sale of illegal drugs at the fighting sites seemed to interest them! I guess that we should be "glad" that at least something is finally being done now.