Michael Vick

It is obvious that there has been extra attention to this issue because of the recent activities of Michael Vick. It certainly triggered many of my feelings about the matter, which is why I wanted to make sure that everyone knew enough about the particular case.

He was recently charged with illegal dog fighting and gambling, he was indicted, plead guilt and has been convicted of a federal felony, thus bringing attention to to dog fighting and animal cruelty laws.

It was April 2007 when the evidence of dog fighting activities were discovered in Vicks home in rural Virginia. In July, Vick and three other men were charged by federal authorities with felony charges of operating an unlawful six-year long interstate dog fighting venture known as"Bad Newz Kennels" at Vick's 15-acre property in Surry County, Virginia They are expected to each receive federal prison sentences between 12 months and a maximum of five years. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to operate an interstate dogfighting ring. In addition, he admitted to providing most of the financing for the operation itself, as well as participating directly in several dogfights in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. He also admitted to sharing in the proceeds from these dog fights. He also admitted that he knew his colleagues killed several dogs who didn't perform well enough. However, while he admitted to providing most of the money for gambling on the fights, he denied placing any side bets on the dogfights. He also denied actually killing any dogs himself

Common Misconceptions

Pit Bulls have locking jaws.
NO! The pit bulls jaws are the same as any other breed of dog! Any Veterinarian can verify this is simply a myth. Pit Bulls have been bred to not let go, however, their jaws are not locked. Actually pit bulls do less damage because they bite and hold, where other dogs bite/release/bite that causes more bleeding and damage.

Pit Bulls are born to be mean.
Not True! Pit Bulls like all other breeds, are not born inherently mean or bad! They can, like any other breed, become mean through lack of training, abuse, neglect and irresponsible ownership and breeding.

There is no scientific proof that Pit Bulls, or any other breed of dog is dangerous. The Foundation's collective experience and research has found the American Pit Bull Terrier is a "terrier." All terriers have animal prey drive, but this does not make them dangerous or vicious. The Pit Bull type dog has to be trained to fight. Although in some cases the Pit Bull is known to be a fighting dog, it was not bred for fighting, but for bull baiting. The Pit Bull type dog comes from Europe and evolved from some Mastiff based breed such as with some Bulldog blood either in a pure form or to a variation of any of the many terrier and hound groups beginning with the now extinct Black and Tans Terriers and Olde English White Terriers. English and Irish immigrants imported the dogs. Unfortunately, it was discovered in the late 1800's that if trained, the dogs could be used in the inhumane sport of dog fighting. Due to federal laws passed in the 1970's prohibiting dog fighting fewer dogs are now trained for the illegal sport.

Pit Bulls have a 1600 PSI Jaw Pressure.
Wrong again, there is currently no device available for measuring dog bites for pressure for pit bulls or any other animal.

Will a pit bull that shows aggression towards a dog, go after people next?
No animal aggression and human aggression are 2 completely different things! There are many types of aggression in the canine world and they are all very different.

Pit Bulls attack more than any other breed.
No, the statistical data on dog bites and attacks are inaccurate. Many dog bites are never reported. There is nothing in place to track dog bites in the US accurately. There are 11+ breeds that are commonly wrongly identified as pit bulls, Those of us who have been involved with the breed for years have trouble identifying them 100% of the time, so, we certainly can’t expect inexperienced people to be able to properly ID a dog. That said, it leads us to believe that many of the bites that claim to be from pit bulls are in fact, inflicted by other breeds. Here are a couple of links to tests, you try to pick the pit bull!

http://members.aol.com/radogz/find.html

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

DOG FIGHTING/ The Law Needs To Get Tougher NOW!

This may help to get my message across.

Who else is involved in the fight?

It is quite reassuring to see the amount of people and organizations who are active in this fight against dog fighting. I feel it is necessary to introduce some of these people because they are a large part of my resources and allies that I know I can look to for help and support in my fight.

One group that has been incredibly helpful to me already is the Animal Legal and Historical Center, which offers an incredible amount of statistics regarding legal status of states and information on recent raids and dog fighter profiles.

Of course the Humane Society of the United States has contributed greatly in the past and continues to do so in the fight. One man whose name you will most likely be hearing in my blog is John Goodwin. This amazing man contributed largely in the Michael Vick case while working with the Humane Society in Washington D.C. He is aware of the "hot beds" for dog fighting and is commonly referenced in many dog fighting news stories.

One woman, who I admire after just a few visits to her site, www.pitbullontheweb.com, is Veronique Chesser. She is completely dedicated to this fight and creating awareness of the horrifying truth. She is a complete inspiration and I can only hope that I will be able to offer the passion and information that she does.

Who are these people?

Many of you may be asking the same question as me, who could possibly do this????

Pit Bulls on the Web offers some information on the kind of people they are, which they describe as a psychopath (you will get no argument from me about that), as well as some of their qualities.

"A psychopath can have high verbal intelligence, but they typically lack "emotional intelligence". They can be expert in manipulating others by playing to their emotions. There is a shallow quality to the emotional aspect of their stories (i.e., how they felt, why they felt that way, or how others may have felt and why). The lack of emotional intelligence is the first good sign you may be dealing with a psychopath. A history of criminal behavior in which they do not seem to learn from their experience, but merely think about ways to not get caught is the second best sign. " Robert Hare

Symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder:

• Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
• Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
• Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
• Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
• Reckless disregard for safety of self or others
• Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
• Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another

(Chesser)

This is what dog fighters are, whether they know it or not. I would love to hear from someone that could explain themselves, their disgusting actions and their sick interest, that in no way fits this description.

None of these dogmen admit to being psychopaths, or even to the cruelty and inhumanity of what they do. Instead they use neutralization techniques, a theory that was developed by Sykes and Matza in 1957 when they identified 5 defense mechanisms that people use to rationalize their inappropriate behavior.

1) Denial of the victim- “most dogmen adamantly deny that the dogs are victimized by the culture of dog fighting” (Gibson). In fact one boxer turned dog fighter Will Grigsby believes that “the dogs he fought were no more victims than the athletes in his profession” (Gibson).

I don’t know about you, but to me, this looks like a victim to me.

2) Denial of Responsibility- one dogman said “we’re not hurting anybody and the dog’s love to fight, so what’s the harm? If you could see the way the animals love it, you wouldn’t think it was cruel” (Gibson)

Oh, he must be right, this dogs look so happy

3) Denial of Injury- many fighters say that the dogs are treated well, some insist “it is not the blood and gore that people have been led to believe” (Gibson). Most of them say “but old timers took good care of their dogs” (Chesser).

This is taking care of your dogs:

This is not:

4) Appealing to a Higher Authority- “the culture of dog fighting perpetuates itself by glorifying its own history and aggrandizing those who are heavily involved. ‘Old timer’ are lauded as warriors, heroes, and role models” (Gibson).

This is not a tradition!!!! It is a CRIME!!!!

5) Condemnation of the Condemners- these people “see themselves as a misunderstood group, victims of cultural genocide” (Gibson), right. They claim it is part of a culture and that culture doesn’t change, but sometimes it does die. IF this is part of a culture (even though I will argue anyone that it is not) it should die. Even worse “dog fighters perceive their behavior as normal and often try to portray humane organizations and other anti-dog fighting groups as extremists and as true animal abusers” (Gibson).

I am pretty sure there is a reason that these groups are called humane organizations, that’s right because they are HUMANE!!! Unlike those that participate and approve of dog fighting.

I don't know what else to say other than, really??? and ewww you disgusting human beings!!!

Chesser, Veronique. "Pit Bulls on the Web." http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/index.html

Gibson, Hanna. “Dog Fighting Detailed Discussion.” Animal Legal and Historical Center. 2005. Michigan State University College of Law. http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusdogfighting.htm

Legal Issues of Dog Fighting

Dog fighting is illegal in the United States of America!!! It is a felony in 48 of the 50 states, it is only a misdemeanor in Idaho and Wyoming where as it is considered a felony and the lowest amount of imprisonment for a first offense is 2 years. Whereas in Idaho as a misdemeanor a first offense is 6 months maximum and a $15,000 fine; for 2nd offense it is 9 months and $7,000 fine; 3rd offense is 1 year and $9,000 fine; not to mention the fact that it is not a crime to be a spectator or to possess or own dog fighting paraphernalia, which is considered a misdemeanor at the least in most states.

In Wyoming they only address the first offense, which leads to a maximum of 1 year in prison and a $5,000 fine; it is considered a misdemeanor or less to be spectators or to keep/own/possess paraphernalia; which is better than Idaho which does not address either.

Kansas has the most strict legislation, with a 10 year maximum for first offense and a $100,000 fine.

Idaho and Wyoming need to change their legislation on the matter to make it a felony as well, and I would love to see every state have regulations more like Kansas. People should not get away with a maximum of 2 years in prison for dog fighting, people get more than that for crimes that are not nearly as bad as torturing and murdering living creatures.

A Little History

An important part of any issues is the history behind it, which is why I feel it is necessary to inform you a little bit about the long history of dog fighting.

Dogs have been exploited for "blood sports" since ancient Roman times when dogs were forced to fight other animals, such as bulls and bears, in the Coliseum. This practice continued into the medieval times in England. In 1835 the Parliement outlawed this activity in the Humane Act of 1835. It was around that time that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier breed was developed and modern dog fighting was born.

The Staffordshire Bull Terrier was brought to America in 1817 and dogfighting quickly became a part of American culture. The United Kennel Club endorsed the "sport" and even went as far as developing rules and bringing in referees. By 1860 most states had outlawed dog fighting yet it continued to grow in popularity as an American pastime into the 20th century. Fights were held at popular public forums on a regular basis "and the sadistic culture became immortalized in the annals of American history and folklore" (Gibson). The "sport" was driven further undergroun by the 1930's and 1940's as organizations like the United Kennel Club withdrew their endorsements.

By 1976 dog fighting was outlawed in all states, however it only recently began to receive any kind of attention by law enforcement. "By all accounts, dog fighting continues to surreptiously thrive in America: its prosperity due in large part to the chronic apathy of and denial by the legal system" (Gibson)

It is shocking that dog fighting has been around for so long, but to be completely honest I am less surprised to find out it was around in ancient times than by the fact that it is still practiced and appreciated by human beings today. Hopefully dog fighting will soon be nothing but history.

Gibson, Hanna. “Dog Fighting Detailed Discussion.” Animal Legal and Historical Center. 2005. Michigan State University College of Law. http://www.animallaw.info/articles/ddusdogfighting.htm