The plight of the pit bulls.

Sam, my doberman/lab mix puppy has just turned 12 months. Now, he’s a totally different dog from the starved, terrified creature we got from the rescue 8 months ago. Back then he was in a terrible state. He was half the weight he should have been, had mange and ringworm, and all his blackened baby teeth snapped when he bit into his first toy. He had never been on a walk and had been repeatedly beaten. He had been breed for one purpose, and one purpose only, to be torn apart by a pit bull in training. His siblings were not as fortunate as Sam, he was the only one who survived in his litter of pups.

Sam with his best friend, our other rescue puppy, Annie.

Recently, while driving through the city late at night, I noticed several hoodies with pit bulls with wounds they shouldn’t have had. These dogs had certainly been involved in fights, and they didn’t look like they had received any vetinary care either.

Street fighting, along with organised dog fighting, is on the increase here and is becoming a major problem. A new way of training pit bulls for street fights has emerged…..throw a cat in a wheelie bin and put the pit bull in with it. This increases the pit bull’s pain threshold but doesn’t seriously damage the dog. Nice isn’t it….at the shelter we’re sending out warnings to people with cats, keep them in during the evening and overnight if you live in certain areas.

As illegal dog fighting becomes increasingly lucrative it becomes ever more barbaric.

The rising popularity of “super breeds” such as the bull mastiff being crossed with the pit bull is creating larger and more ferocious fighting dogs. The pit bulls are gentle towards people [if allowed to be dogs] whereas the bull mastiff is generally used as a guard dog.

During training, amongst other things, fighting dogs are run endlessly on treadmills, are forced to hang onto prey suspended off the ground, and wear heavy chains, with weights attached to build upper body strength and incease fitness and endurance. Generally the dogs are chained continuously when not being trained. They are pumped with drugs and finally large dogs or pups bred for the purpose are tied, muzzled and confined while the pit bull is riled into tearing them apart. And to think this was to be Sam’s fate. Disgusting! You have to ask who the animals are here……

I won’t descibe the fights….but dogs are often given anaesthetic before fights to numb the pain, not out of consideration for the dog, but to ensure they continue to fight. The injuries they suffer are just plain horrifying and if they survive to fight another day, they’re never taken to a vet who would recognise the symptoms of a dog fight. Occasionally, they are patched up by their owners in a haphazard way. Many losing dogs are killed after a fight, some quickly, some tortured depending on how embarrassed the owner is.

The average life of a fighting dog is very short.

The abuses the dogs endure both in and out of the ring and on the street are so gruesome that even seasoned investigators are shocked and sickened by the barbarities discovered during raids.

So please, if you suspect a dog fighting ring in your area or think puppies are being bred for this purpose, call the RSPCA, the police or any animal welfare group. This barbaric practice has to be stamped out, and no-one can operate in secret.