By: Christine Crawford
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Badger-baiting Bear-baiting Betta-fighting Boxing Bull-baiting Bullfighting Chilean rodeo Cockfighting Cock throwing Coursing Cricket fighting Dog fighting Donkey-baiting Duck-baiting Fox hunting Fox tossing
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Gladiatorial spectacles Goose pulling Hare coursing Hog-baiting Human-baiting Hyena-baiting Insect fighting Jackal coursing Lion-baiting Monkey-baiting Octopus wrestling Rat-baiting Spider fighting Wolf hunting Wolf-baiting
• Historical accounts of dog fights go back to the 1750s • Widespread activity emerged after the Civil War, with professional pits proliferating in the 1860s, mainly in the Northeast • Common form of entertainment for police officers and firemen
• Although many laws were passed to outlaw the activity, dog fighting continued to expand during the twentieth century • Many of the dogs were brought over from England and Ireland, where dog fighting had begun to flourish after bull-baiting and bear-baiting became illegal in the 1830s
• American Pit Bull Terrier • • • •
Fila Brasileiro Dogo Argentino Tosa Inu Presa Canario
• Occasionally other breeds and mixes are reportedly used in street fights or as "bait" dogs used by some to train fighting dogs
• Dogs are kept isolated from other dogs • Spend most of their lives on short, heavy chains, often just out of reach of other dogs. • Usually unsocialized to any other dogs and to most people • Anabolic steroids used to enhance muscle mass and encourage aggressiveness • Narcotic drugs may be used to increase the dogs' aggression, increase reactivity and mask pain or fear during a fight • Young animals are often trained or tested by allowing them to fight with other dogs in well-controlled "rolls." • Some people rely on cruel methods to encourage their dogs to fight, including starvation, physical abuse, isolation • May have their ears cropped and tails docked close to their bodies
• In 2007, Congress passed the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act which amended the Animal Welfare Act and provided felony penalties for interstate commerce, import and export relating to commerce in fighting dogs, fighting cocks and cockfighting paraphernalia. • All states except for Idaho and Wyoming had banned dog fighting by 2008 • Idaho became the 49th state to pass legislation that increased the penalty in that state for participating in dog fighting from a misdemeanor to a felony • One week later, on March 4, 2008, Wyoming became the 50th state to pass this same type of legislation • Also a felony in Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands • In most states, the possession of dogs for the purpose of fighting is also a felony offense • Being a spectator at a dog fight is illegal in all states except Montana and Hawaii • Approximately 29 states have laws that are related to the reporting of animal cruelty by veterinarians
• Dog fights are informal – on street corners, back alleys and playground activities • Stripped of the rules and formality of the traditional pit fight • Events triggered by insults, turf invasions or the simple taunt • Lack of respect for the animals, often starving and beating them to encourage aggressive behavior • Many of the dogs are bred to be a threat not only to other dogs, but to people as well
• "Street" fights are often associated with gang activities. The fights may be conducted with money, drugs or bragging rights as the primary payoff • There is often no attempt to care for animals injured in the fight and police or animal control officers frequently encounter dead or dying animals in the aftermath of such fights
• Fighters are more organized • One or more dogs participating in several organized fights a year as a sideline for both entertainment and to attempt to supplement income • Pay more attention to care and breeding of their dogs • More likely to travel across state lines for events
• Dogfighters often have large numbers of animals (as many as 50 or more) and earn money from breeding, selling and fighting dogs at a central location and on the road • They pay particular attention to promoting established winning bloodlines and to long-term conditioning of animals.
• They regularly dispose of animals that are not successful fighters or breeders using a variety of methods, including shooting and blunt force trauma, or selling them to street fighters
• Fights can last just a few minutes or several hours • Both animals may suffer injuries, including puncture wounds, lacerations, blood loss, crushing injuries and broken bones. • Although fights are not usually to the death, many dogs succumb to their injuries later. • Unless they have had a good history of past performance or come from valuable bloodlines, losing dogs are often discarded, killed or simply left with their injuries untreated • If the losing dog is perceived to be a particular embarrassment to the reputation or status of its owner, it may be executed in a particularly brutal fashion as part of the "entertainment."
• Most dogs that are used for fighting are never even brought to a veterinary clinic • No record of this owner or animal ever coming to the clinic • Many old scars present on the face and body • Very bad temperament • Broken bones • Suturing large lacerations such as bite or scratch wounds • Usually have no vaccinations
• A blood sport in which two roosters specifically bred for aggressiveness are placed beak to beak in a small ring and encouraged to fight to the death • Roosters were first bred for fighting in Southeast Asia more than 3,000 years ago • Cockfighting spread to Greece, Rome and Britain about 200 years ago • Particularly prevalent in Colonial New York, Philadelphia and Boston • By the 1800s, it had spread to the South and West Coast
• Roosters often wear knives or artificial gaffs—long, sharp, dagger-like attachments— that transform their natural spurs into knives for maximum injury • Fights can last anywhere from a few seconds to 15 minutes, while death is often the outcome for either one of both animals • Cockfighting is closely connected to other crimes such as gambling, drugs and acts of violence • Cockfights often inspire a party-like atmosphere in which entire families gather, including children
• By 2006, all states except for New Mexico and Louisiana had made cock fighting illegal • Early Spring 2007 – New Mexico banned cockfighting • May 2007 - Congress passed the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, a bill to impose felony-level penalties for activities in interstate or foreign commerce that facilitate or promote animal fighting • July 12, 2007 – Louisiana passed a bill on cockfighting, which prohibited cockfighting and the possession of chickens for the purpose of cockfighting. The state ban became effective Aug. 15, 2008 • The possession of birds for fighting purposes is prohibited in 34 states and the District of Columbia • Being a spectator at a cockfighting event is illegal in 41 states and the District of Columbia • Cockfighting is still popular and prevalent in many other countries, such as France, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Belgium, Spain, Haiti, Italy and Malaysia
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These birds are also likely to never see a veterinarian Kept in single cages stacked two or three on top of each other Combs and wattles cut off Bodies may be shaved – either halfway down or shaved backs Teasers and sharp spurs present
• A pit bull terrier is brought to you for suturing of several lacerations on its face and trunk. There are many other old scars also present on the dog. You have never seen this client before, and he claims to only have owned the dog for a short time and has no idea how the present lacerations occurred or how the old scars came to be. You suspect that the dog has been used for fighting, but the owner denies this. • Is it ethically correct to report this man to the humane society?
• http://www.avma.org/press/releases/080312_dog_fighting_f elony.asp • http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/aug07/070815n.asp • http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/dog-fighting/dogfighting-faq.aspx • http://animallaw.info/articles/ovusstatedogfightingchart.htm • http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/cockfighting.aspx • http://www.vactf.org/manual/chap5/section3.php
