The hideous details found in the federal indictment of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and others on dogfighting charges are so disturbing it is difficult to read through them.
The good news is that the case will at least bring this mostly hidden horror to light.
In a country where people spend billions on their dogs, and treat them as family members, it’s hard to comprehend an underground, big-moneyed dogfight gambling business flourishing in the U.S. But the U.S. Humane Society estimates that somewhere between 20,000-40,000 people in this country take part in this multibillion-dollar industry.
Participants raise dogs, almost exclusively American pit bulls, to fight to the death. As long as they win, the dogs can live. If they lose, and aren’t killed in the fight, they are killed by their owners. At least that is alleged to be Vick’s operating method. When authorities raided a house owned by Vick in Surry County, Va., in April, they reportedly found 66 dogs, a dog-fighting pit, bloodstained carpets and equipment commonly associated with dogfighting. All of the dogs were put down, because all they know is killing.
According to the indictment, Vick and two associates allegedly “executed approximately eight dogs … by various methods, including hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog’s body to the ground.”
Dogfighting is a felony crime in all states except Idaho and Wyoming. This year, Congress passed a law making interstate transport of fighting dogs a felony, allowing federal prosecutors to get involved in trying to break up the organized rings. The secret fights are most often held in isolated, rural areas, making it hard to catch organizers and participants in the act.In May, ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” interviewed a confidential source who has supplied information on dog fights to law enforcement, leading to dozens of felony arrests. He told ESPN he consented to the interview to change people’s perceptions about dogfighting because they have “the wrong idea” about it and should see “just one” match for themselves before judging it.
He told ESPN people shouldn’t be troubled by the allegations against Vick:
“They shouldn’t be really upset, OK?” he said. “Because it’s only just an animal. It’s just a dog that is raised up. He’s put out there, you know, and he’s chained up, OK. And the time he gets a certain age, this dog is going to want to fight. It is bred in him, OK? He knows what he is and he’s going to fight. Just take him off the leash, let him go.”
So we know what these dogs are up against – human ignorance, cruelty and sadism. This inhumane practice is a stain on our entire society; obliterating it is the only answer.
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