Welcome to the Bayou, I’m
glad that you stopped by today. It is a
special day and thanks to my friends at Dogs ‘N Pawz and For Love of a Dog, who
are the regular co-hosts of Tuesday’s Tails., a special blog hop. Many of you help by joining the hop and/or
sharing the adoptable pets each week.
Over the months, I have become a regular in the hop-sharing dogs
currently living at my local PetSavers no-kill shelter. One sad thing that you’ll see repeatedly is
photos of beautiful Pit Bull dogs. When
I realized National Dog Fighting Awareness Day fell on a Tuesday, I contacted Lisa
and Sue to see if they would like to join with me and two other bloggers to
shine a spotlight on dog fighting. Of
course, they both enthusiastically agreed and we are all so thankful for their help.
The idea for this hop took
root several months ago when I began talking with Jenna from Love is being
owned by a Husky. After becoming friends
with Sarah from Lola the Pitty, we asked her opinion. I have a Basset Hound and a Westie while
Jenna has Huskies, so we wanted someone that has experienced breed bias, and
she has rescued Pits. The three of us
threw some ideas for a blog hop around until we saw the NDFAD announcement from
the ASPCA. It was the perfect timing. I appreciate all of these ladies' friendship
and support. Sarah did a great job on
our badges so be sure to post it and share it.
Every
day we are bombarded with the reality that there are just truly evil people in
the world. There doesn’t seem to be a
day that goes by when we don’t see a report of
shootings, beatings, child
abuse, rape, or some other horrible crime.
I don’t think it is giant leap to conclude these folks have something a
little off kilter going on inside their brains.
The courts are full, the jails are overflowing, and yet there doesn’t
seem to be a shortage of humans bent on inflicting unimaginable pain and
suffering. I am making a point to
acknowledge that there are many humans suffering and today’s post is not a
comparison to human vs. animal suffering.
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Angela Boone Photography via Pinterest |
I
love animals and I can’t imagine intentionally inflicting pain on any
creature. (Okay, let
me be clear, I will smash the dickens out of a spider, that doesn’t count) It is hard for me to imagine how anyone can
justify causing an animal pain. I’m not
talking about hunting and fishing. That sport
puts food on families' tables and is closely regulated.
I’m
talking about humans putting dogs into an area to watch them fight until one is
dead or hurt too badly to continue.
Seriously, I don’t understand how someone could stand to witness such a
thing. I realize there has always been
some who enjoy blood sports. Romans used
to be really psyched over watching other men fight lions. The crowds are still yelling for man vs.
bulls in many places. Cock fighting was
legal in this state until 2008 and apparently, cock boxing is still legal. Would I tease you about that? Oh, how I wish that I were.
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Lola the Pitty's Pinterest |
Having
said that, it should not be a huge shock to any of you when I say dog fighting is
rampant in the south. I experienced it
firsthand. Years and years ago, I had a
dog that was supposedly a Cocker Spaniel, but he was a white lanky Terrierish
Heinz 57. I’m pretty sure that his
parents had never even seen a Cocker Spaniel.
George was a good dog; I loved him, stinky farts, and all. He never met a stranger and was just a big
lovable goofball. I lived out in the
country and he ran loose most of the time.
He never went far and always came back after an hour or so of running the
woods. One day he didn’t come home and I
went looking for him. I found him in the
backyard of a very weird house. I’d
noticed the people coming and going. They
had big Pit bull dogs that they sometimes loaded in the shabby truck. Amid a bunch of junk that I now recognize as
dog training equipment, there was poor little George looking out of their
fence. I took him back home with an
uneasy feeling in my stomach. George
stayed at the house for about two more days, and then poof he was gone. I searched
everywhere, but I never found a trace of him.
I know in my heart that he was taken by those people down the road and used
as a bait dog. I try not to think about
it very often because it is too awful. I
don’t have any proof, but you know how a mom’s intuition works. I’m sure that is one reason why I am so adamant
about people not letting their dogs run free.
There
is no reason for me to post gruesome photos of dogs that lost their last
fight. We’ve all seen them, along with
the ones who have been rescued. Can these
dogs all be rehabilitated? Probably not,
but a large majority of them can after some intense work. One thing is for certain, if they had stayed
where they were, they would have eventually been killed. I am sure most of you get the same rush of
fear when a strange dog rushes towards us when we are walking. All I want to do is scoop Bentley and Pierre up
to ensure their safety. It’s the deal
you make with your dog. You protect and
love each other.
I
could write pages of rants and talk about the conditions of some of these dogs
survive
in each day. I could preach to
the choir about how wrong the act of dog fighting is in every case. It wouldn’t be hard for me to vent about what
I think should happen to humans that fight, maim, torture, or kill dogs and
cats. The sad thing is that it will do
absolutely no good. You all already know
these things and probably feel the same way.
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Eatmisery.blogspot via Pinterest |
I
have no idea why people choose to become involved in dog fighting. I would imagine money and reputation play a
major factor. Some dogfighting raids
have had over a half of a million dollars seized. The stud fees and puppy sales from good
bloodlines, can being in thousands. The
thing is that I can’t believe the ones involved in this vicious blood sport are
happy people. Happy people don’t fight
dogs, they just don’t.
We
all need to know the signs of dog fighting.
It is estimated that tens of thousands of people are involved in the
underground dogfighting world. Someone knows
something that can help these dogs, and can report anonymously to
authorities. If we turn our head and
pretend dog fighting is someone else’s problem, the bad guys win and more importantly,
the dogs lose. Let’s fight together so
they don’t have to anymore.
Links
for more information through the ASPCA
2. Get involved today by
joining ASPCA on Google Hangout to see their experts and Dan Harris from ABC
News is the moderator.
Please
share information, speak out against breed legislation, and share the adoptable
Pit Bulls sheltered in a no-kill shelter or one with an expiration date on its
head.
Please
take the time to visit these other blogs in support of National Dog Fighting
Awareness Day. Thank you for being a
voice to the voiceless victims of dog fighting.
It's terrible that this happens. I'm sharing the link.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Though, thankfully, none of my pets have disappeared like that, one of our dogs was a bait dog. Whole subject breaks my heart. I'll be sharing your adoptable dogs and post.
ReplyDeleteGreat info Melissa. I never knew that whole story about your dog. I am so sorry that happened :(
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad to have to have a day just for this. That is just how much this is happening in the world today, and it is only getting worse, but there are more busts happening as well. I just hope more people start speaking up and trying to do something about it.
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Great post, we need to do the fighting to save them. Sharing.
ReplyDeleteSheba.
Great post! So glad you all asked us to use Tuesday's Tails for this great cause. The whole thing about Pit Bulls breaks my heart. We had a little Pittie mix and she was the most loving dog. I miss her dearly. Off to share your two beauties!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post indeed! Those sweeties deserve love and a great big happy. The humans involved in dog fighting are pure evil. We still have a photo of Michael Vick in the bottom of our litter box and tell him what we think frequently.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post and I bet it was so hard for you to write. So so sorry for what happened to George. Lets stomp out fighting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this blog hop! I'd already posted once today for the A to Z challenge, but when I saw this Hop, I had to write another!
ReplyDeleteHow horrible to have lost a dog, we truly understand why ending dog fighting is so important to you. Love Dolly
ReplyDeleteSpike and Gunny are so adorable! I hope they find homes very soon.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I cannot begin to understand the sick minds of the people that can find dog fighting entertaining. I know that greed plays a big part in it for many, but I will never, ever comprehend it.
I am so sorry that you lost your dog to those cruel people. It must have been so difficult for you to think about and share that story.
Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets
Thank you for this very touching and heartfelt post. This blog hop was a fantastic idea; I'm glad you guys came up with it. I also find it absolutely heartbreaking that the majority of shelter dogs are pit bull breeds; they are great dogs, and they don't deserve to be treated the way they are. Will share!
ReplyDeleteThere is no better way to put it.
ReplyDeleteDog fighting makes me SO MAD!!! Only people who are truly sick in the head could only put these dogs in a situation where they kill or be killed. I've seen so so so many stories on this topic, dogs with ears bitten off, face chewed up, legs broken...I absolutely hate how people treat PitBulls, they are gorgeous and they are gentle unless you train them to be mean, or treat them badly, then they become traumatized and snap at anyone/dog.
Definitely sharing this post!
❀Siamese Smothers and Tuxie Tickles❀ from Mikko and Jax at Happiness is Siamese!
It is so very sad that humans would put animals through this sort of thing. I really don't get it either.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about George. Thanks for writing this post.
ReplyDeleteI'm SO glad we we're able to pull this off, I think it has received a good amount of exposure! Hopefully it will continue to so that these sick people participating in this blood 'sport' will be caught...thanks, Melissa!
ReplyDeleteSo sad about your own dog getting taken. Did you ever talk to or report the neighbors? Thank you for sharing about such an important issue, was glad to see so many familiar pups on the hop! ~Rascal and Rocco
ReplyDeletethanks
ReplyDelete