Save Me from Myself

"There's blood everywhere in this house, on the floor, the walls. We have walls in the basement coated with smeared blood, which is an indication the dogs were fighting in the basement. We have dog-fighting magazines, dog-fighting paperwork inside the address. We have a treadmill specifically designed for dogs to condition on. All things found in dog-fighting houses. Shows you what a vicious crime this is."

This is how Mark Langan, a Nebraska Humane Society Officer, described a house suspected of dog-fighting in an interview with ketv.com news in June of 2006.

Dog-fighting is speculated to have "been around since the domestication of the species," according to Answers.com. This "sport" spans the entire globe as a pastime, both legally and illegally depending on the country.

Places like Afghanistan and Japan still allow dog-fighting in some cities. Other places, such as North America, have outlawed dog-fighting. Dog-fighting is illegal in all 50 of states in the U.S. Not only is it illegal, but in all states except two, Wyoming and Idaho, it is also a felony offense. In some states even watching a dog-fighting event is considered a felony.

"There has been a big push this last year for Wyoming, but the session ended before the bill could get through, next year we're making a bigger push in Idaho," John Goodwin, the deputy manager of animal fighting issues at the Humane Society of the United States, says.

Legality issues, it seems, have done nothing to curb the appeal that this "sport" has to some in the U.S. Because dog-fighting is mostly an underground "sport" it has been extremely difficult for authorities to end.

"A lot of people will go to places without and active animal control," Dave Points, an employee of the Nebraska Humane Society, says, "Let's say you were a drug dealer, if you were in a county with a proactive sheriff's unit, you might do it two counties over."

Dog-fighting is a "sadistic contest" where two dogs are put in a "generally small area enclosed by plywood" and made to fight. The dogs which participate are usually specific breeds that have been trained to fight. The fights "Average nearly an hour in length, and often last over two hours," according to the Humane Society of the U.S. web site.

However, Points says he's noticed, "In Omaha a lot of the reports have been spontaneous fights, like two guys show up in a park and fight their pit bulls."

The planned matches which take place in homes only end when one dog can no longer fight. The majority of the time the dogs die during the course of the fights, or shortly after. This is usually due to excessive blood loss, shock, or dehydration answers.com says.

"I saw one pit bull in a raid in Ohio last week," Goodwin says, "a significant portion of her jaw had been ripped off and healed over."

"Fortunately," Points says, "the fights in parks that we get calls about usually have been broken up, or have ended by the time we arrive on the scene."

In the U.S. dogs used for fighting are typically American Pit Bull Terriers, or pit bulls for short. However, "Foreign breeds, such as the Dogo Aregentino (used widely in South America) and Presa Canario (used in Spain) are also gaining popularity in North America, especially where American Pit Bull Terriers are being banned," Answers.com reports.

"The fights are predominately pit bull, I'd say 99% of the time, you see some from China and some from Pakistan occasionally." Goodwin says.

Why these specific breeds? Over the centuries humans have bred these specific types of dogs in hopes of bringing out the most desired traits. People have essentially been growing monsters, dogs designed for one purpose, murder. In general, fighting dogs have low slung, muscular bodies with short, broad heads and short, powerful muzzles.

The modern breeds of fighting dogs are believed to be "ancestors of wolves," according to Answers.com. This is evident in such breeds as the Akita, believed to have been used as fighting dogs in China. In the Midwestern United States pit bulls are the usual choice for dog-fighting.

Goodwin has a different theory about the popularity of pit bulls and dog fighting.

"It's being fueled by pop-culture," Goodwin says, "There's a Jay-Z music video for the song 99 Problems with three scenes of pit bulls fighting."

Goodwin also references the rapper DMX and his arrest last year for the possession of 13 pit bulls.

"DMX even named one of his albums Grand Champion, a grand champion is a five-time winner with no losses, it's becoming a status thing" Goodwin says.

It seems that dog-fighting has been on the rise in the last 5-10 years, but not in the traditional sense. "We're seeing a decline in the old school "country boy" kind of dog fighting, and an explosion in urban areas," Goodwin says.

In the 2006 interview Lagan says, "I had no idea it was going on when I was on the Omaha Police Department. But believe me when I tell you, Omaha has got a large dog-fighting problem."

Although law enforcement officials and animal organizations such as the Nebraska Humane Society view dog-fighting as a high risk problem for Omaha, residents of the city do not view it as a high risk problem at all. Weed & Seed, an Omaha based group of Police Officers and teenage volunteers surveyed people about crimes in Omaha and found that, "Residents were least concerned with dog fighting (0%)."

However, residents may not fully understand the gravity of the situation. Other problems arise from dog-fighting aside from animal cruelty issues. "Young children are sometimes present at the events, which can promote insensitivity to animal suffering, enthusiasm for violence," the U.S. Humane Society also reports.

"At these dog fighting events you have extreme violence and gambling, usually large sums of money," Goodwin says, "at the same time, there are also firearms present to protect that money, this leads to shootings." Outside of these issues, fighting dogs can pose other serious threats just by being present in local communities. Although it's true that fighting dogs are bred and trained to be aggressive toward other animals and friendly to human beings, they still present a great deal of danger. "Sometimes dog fighters will throw the losing dog out on the streets, the last thing the community needs is a hurt, angry pit bull roaming around," Goodwin says. These are animals that have been programmed to destroy anything smaller than them and they can possibly end up in any neighborhood.

Due to their aggressive nature, these dogs are potentially harmful to other small animals. Children are at risk as well because, "their small size may cause a fighting dog to perceive a child as another animal," the U.S. Humane Society reports. These are all reasons why law enforcement and humane society agencies have been pushing for stricter penalties, more funding for specialized departments to handle this problem and greater rewards for citizens who report dog-fighting. In Omaha, for example, "tips that lead to an arrest or conviction are rewarded with up to $1,000," nehumanesociety.org says.

In the state of Nebraska the penalties for being caught fighting dogs fall under animal cruelty legislation. Surprisingly, the Omaha Police Department doesn't even handle dog fighting issues. Instead, it is left up to the local humane society to take care of. "Law enforcement groups need to realize that dog-fighting isn't just a humane society problem, it's a crime problem," Goodwin says.

He thinks that some groups are slowly starting to understand this.

"Some cities are putting together task forces that are using the dog-fighting angle to infiltrate gangs," Goodwin says.

He also says that on several of his most recent raids he has found items that should concern any law enforcement official. Items such as "cocaine crushing devices, explosive devices and other small firearms," have all been present.

But what happens to the dogs? "It's really is a case by case matter," Points says. In some cases the dogs are handed over to rescue groups, such as Pit Bull Rescue Central. Groups like this are specifically trained in handling certain types of dogs, whether they are abused, neglected or have been fought.

Groups like Pit Bull Rescue Central encourage learning about the specific breed, and hope to foster a "better understanding of who these dogs are," Pit Bull Rescue Central's web site states in its mission statement.

"There are definitely legitimate breeders, the dogs themselves aren't bad," Goodwin says, "There are certainly bloodlines that have been bred away from their aggressive tendencies."

Unfortunately, most of the dogs that have spent their lives fighting have to be euthanized. "We recommend against adopting these dogs out because they are bred to aggressive towards other animals," Goodwin says.

"It's not the dog's fault, but unfortunately they pay the price," Goodwin says, "the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the people who breed these animals for criminal purposes."

Sources of Information for Article:

Points, Dave. Telephone Interview. 6 April 2007

Goodwin, John. Telephone Interview. 10 April 2007

Answers.com (2007). Dog Fighting. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/dog-fighting

(2007) Dog Fighting Fact Sheet. Retrieved April 2, 2007, from The Humane Society of the United States Web site: http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field/animal_fighting_the_final_round/dogfighting_fact_sheet/

Police Investigate Suicide Attempt, Find Dog-Fighting Evidence. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2007, from http://www.ketv.com/news/9314440/detail.html?rss=oma&psp=news

South Omaha Weed & Seed. (2004) South Omaha Weed & Seed Survey Results. Retrieved April3, 2007, from http://www.unomaha.edu/neighborhoodscan/neighborhoods/weed_seed/south.htm

Gibson, H. (2005). Dog-Fighting General Overview. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Animal Legal and Historical Center Web site: http://www.animallaw.info/articles/qvusdogfighting.htm

Nebraska Humane Society. (n.d.) Reporting Animal Cruelty. Retrieved April 2, 2007, from http://www.nehumanesociety.org/licensingandlaws/animalcruelty/index.asp

Pit Bull Rescue Central. (n.d.). Vision & Mission Statements. Retrieved April 8, 2007, from http://www.pbrc.net/info.html