Pit Bull Informational
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DOG FIGHTING - THE TRUTH This site offers a unique look at dogfighting using dogfighter's own words. . |
Where do you stand on dog fighting? Ever really thought about it?
To those who love the American pit bull, it can be an amazingly complex subject! How can you love a breed forged by baiting and fighting - and yet deny that those same forces should be at work today? It IS a complex issue. And here is where I stand: The ancestors of the American pit bull were first large game hunters (grippers), then as culture changed they became "butcher's dogs" and their work was the baiting of bulls. Around 1850 bull baiting was banned and the dogs were turned on each other. This was due to pressure from police - it's hard to hide a bull bait. Was dog fighting ever "noble" or "better" than it is now? The suffering of the dogs was the same, of course, but after speaking face to face with men like Louis Colby and John Foseca I can honestly say that prior to 1970, dog fighters cared about gameness - not betting - and the care of their dogs was significantly better than that given today. The difference was respect. When you compare the career of a dog like "Hunky" (best known for this win in Cuba) compared to the lives of dogs in the inner city today; dogs locked in trunks of cars while their owners drive around until one dog is dead or too severely injured to continue, dogs fought on street corners or playgrounds - there is no comparison. Read about the REALITY of the conditions these dogs are kept in - especially "big name dogmen" who many hold in respect while knowing nothing of the reality - you can draw your own conclusion concerning just how much respect and care today's dog fighter gives their animals. As Howard Heinzle said years ago, the new generation of dog fighters he called the "Pepsi Generation", wanted only ferocity and care nothing of gameness. WHO TO BLAME? It might surprise you who is to blame. Just as the banning of bull baiting brought dog fighting to the front, so changing dog fighting from a minor offense to a FELONY caused the complete change to dog fighting. Once groups like the HSUS brought in FELONY laws (rather ridiculous in the first place) experienced, compassionate, knowledgeable gamedog breeders like the Colbys dropped out. Whereas in the 1940s you saw layers, doctors, judges, mayors and government leaders participating in the sport, the advent of FELONY laws took this stabilizing element away and left - those who had no issue with being felons; the criminal element, drug users and worse. As groups like the HSUS and ASPCA put more and more pressure on game dog breeders, and very importantly, as they spread horrific misinformation about "bait animals" and other cruelties unknown before that time, the face of dog fighting changed forever. Those who would fight their dogs no longer had knowledgeable or compassionate people to help them to learn how to condition or treat their dogs. Instead, the only information they had access to was that put out by the "humane groups" who told lurid tales of "bait pets" in order to stir up donations - resulting in far more cruelty than ever their had been. The HSUS, PETA and ASPCA have ever been, first and foremost - the enemies of the game dog and bird. First, by making FELONY laws which replaced those who truly cared about the game animals and their welfare with the criminal element. Second, by spreading horrific misinformation about the training, keeping and conditioning of fighting dogs (and birds!) which - due to the lack of information from knowledgeable game breeders resulted in the criminal element doing the things the HSUS told them "how it was done". Third, by launching a public attack against the game dog and bird by spreading misinformation about how aggressive (toward humans!) these animals are. By spreading false information about "bait" animals causing a public hatred of American pit bulls as a threat against their pet dogs. Fourth, by showing that their concern lay NOT with the animals involved, by making ZERO attempt to house or care for these animals after seizure. If the HSUS used just a portion of what they pay their employees for travel they could provide safe, long term housing for seized animals. But they can't do that because the truth about the temperament and character of these animals would come out. The HSUS does its own version of "Shoot, shovel, shut up". So, for me, the complex question of how to love and preserve the American pit bull comes down to this: the time for dog fighting is gone, just as the time of bull baiting is gone. The challenge now is for pit bull breeders to avoid the pitfall of the show ring, and to come up with unique tests to keep our breed game. And an important part of the challenge that faces us is this: we must police ourselves - not allow extremists who do not even want our animals ALIVE to police us. We, the breeders and fanciers must come up with new challenges for the bulldog at the same time we band together to fight the anti-pet efforts of HSUS/PETA/ASPCA. The ASPCA has a very dubious genetics program aimed directly at the destruction of American pit bulls. The HSUS fights everyday to erode your rights as an animal lover. PETA has clearly stated that their ultimate goal is the removal of all animals from human ownership. The American pit bull has two powerful enemies: the "humane groups" working for his extinction, and the modern dog fighter who are producing dogs of dubious genetics and characteristics while keeping them in negative headlines. Who is the friend of the American pit bull? Those few people who CARE enough to study, learn and understand WHAT an American pit bull is. To understand what gameness is. To understand that new, legal ways must be found to keep him game. Who understand that the so called "humane groups" must not be supported. Who understand that until breed numbers are drastically reduced, efforts to restore the pit bull to its rightful place as the world's premier breed will fail. So, the following pages will give you information by which to make up your own mind. I deal with the "humane groups" on other pages, so here you will read about the harm done to our breed by today's illegal dog fighters. |
The
"fighting dog" has few friends. These
animals are victims of cruelty. |
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(For information on bogus "humane" groups, click here.)
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There will always be those pathetic individuals who need an animal to do their fighting for them. |
These pages present information directly from dog fighters themselves, or official reports of their busts. Dog fighters don't like this site because it is not "made up" or "opinion". Sadly, this is the truth... |
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To see another kind of TRUTH about the "fighting" pit bull CLICK HERE
 Dog seized from dog fight case in Florida. Dog fighters almost always consider themselves "victims" when busted. Few take responsibility for their actions. This says a lot about their personalities. |
There is tremendous misinformation concerning the matching of dogs. This misinformation comes from both sides of the issue, both from those who enjoy matching dogs and those who see it as repugnant. Authors which embrace dog fighting generally attempt to paint a naively "squeaky clean" image of the people and activities surrounding this illegal, underground activity. On the other hand, humane groups (which fall into two groups, those actively seeking to distort information about pit bulls in their efforts to destroy them and those who simply disseminate inaccurate information due to lack of knowledge) are also guilty of gross inaccuracies in describing both the animals and activities involved. Much of the information presented in this section is taken directly from "fast lane" dog fighters themselves, in their own words. You be the judge. |
For a hilarious look at Pit Bull Revenge On Michael Vick CLICK HERE
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF
The baiting of large, fierce animals such as bear or bull, was historically considered fit entertainment for royalty while the fighting of dog against dog was looked upon as a "poor relation" to the baiting of larger, more powerful animals. As long as there are men with no regard for societal laws seeking to prove the prowess of their dogs, there will be dog fighting. As law enforcement officers and concerned citizens, the best we can do is make an effort to educate ourselves and others about the realities of this bloodsport and make all efforts to come to the aid of the pit bulls which are the innocent victims. While animal fighting occurs almost everywhere in the world, dog fighting and fighting dogs have historically been associated with the United Kingdom. The baiting of bulls by dogs was even required by law. Mr. Perkins in his treatise of Cases of Conscience (published 1632) states: "The baiting of the bear, and cockfights, are no meet [not good] recreations. The baiting of the bull hath its use, and therefore it is commanded by civil authority; and so have not these." Stuff
and Nonsense! Just what was the original bulldog? What did it look like? Is it extinct? Are modern recreations of "Olde Bulldogges" accurate recreations of true bull baiting dogs? Study the color drawings to the left. They were painted by noted authorities on bull baiting, dog fighting and cock fights from the early 1800s. These two artists painted many, many pictures of baitings, badger hunting, bear baiting and dog fights. Without exception, they always represented the bulldogs as those you see: long, straight legs, agile body, nothing overdone about it, full straight tail, in size about 40 to 60 pounds, deep, full muzzles giving a strong bite. There are no short, deformed noses. There are no bowed legs and fiddle fronts. No weak, wide shoulders. No short tail, no wrinkles on the head. Why? Because the deformities listed above would all be detriments to a real baiting dog. Short, bowed legs do only one thing - make a dog less agile. A dog facing a maddened bull must be able to spring about tirelessly, leaping, dodging, all things a dog with a weak front cannot do well. A dog with an overly wide chest, legs hung on the "outside" of the dog (not under it) with weak pasterns and flat feet is simply not an athlete. Neither is an overly large dog; one over 80 pounds. Large, heavy dogs lack wind and the agility to survive close contact with a bull. [Note: Australian Cattle Dogs, a breed which work bulls in the Australian Outback to this day, are small, 35 pound dogs. Large dogs simply cannot do the work.] So, sadly, while cute and rolly polly, the short, bowed legged, heavy bodied, heavy headed, short muzzled dogs marketed today as "recreated baiting bulldogs" are no less a fancy of the overactive imagination then the AKC "bulldog". Looking at old prints of actual baiting dogs shows us what form baiting actually required. Looking at short and wide "bully" dogs bred today show us what man thinks a baiting dog should look like. Is the original bulldog extinct? If it is, why would dogs identical in appearance to baiting dogs still exist today - still be catching hogs? If you study the picture above, you see that the dogs could easily meet the standard for an American pit bull today. These dogs came over with the earlist pioneers, and have thrived here. I think that anwsers the question. In America, they have diversified into several different types, such as the large, mastiff like white "American bulldogs" used primarily as guardians, the tiny fighting dogs of Boston who became the Boston "bull" terrier, the 35 to 65 pound, athletic pit bull, the AKC registered "American Staffordshire" - and in the past several years - the oversized, "fad bred" pit bull mixes which are quickly losing their resemblance to true baiting dogs.
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