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Pit Bull Informational
Pages
by Diane Jessup |
DOG FIGHTING - THE TRUTH
Page II . |
Despite having had the bond of man and dog betrayed, they still look at humans with love and - God knows why - trust.
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Frozen to death

Unable to "scratch"

A "Happy Warrior" Mr. Stratton?

Both dogs died of exhaustion
after this match. What a waste of two dogs.

This pup looks for love and guidance.
Imagine him in the hands of a dog fighter.
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Who
is involved:
With the rising of the social consciousness which brought
about the banning of animal baiting, those few people who
simply could not give up their attraction to watching animals
destroy each other moved underground. From the open fields
of bull baiting, blood sport moved to the dank and close
cellars of taverns and other secluded spots. To this day
dog fighting remains an activity attractive to very few,
secreted away in the modern equivalent of the old tavern
cellar. Because it is an illegal activity, it stands to
reason that the involvement of upstanding citizens is quite
rare. Authors such as Richard Stratton attempt to paint
a picture of intelligent, friendly, otherwise law abiding
and upstanding citizens which just enjoy the athletic ability
of their pets. However, time and again without exception,
when the reality of dog fighting comes to the light
of day, the truth is always found to be quite different.
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The
following story of how Grand Champion "35" came
to his owner (in his owner's own words) is a far more accurate
representation of not only the "average" dog fighter
but the average care a pit dog can expect at the hands of
a well known "real deal dogmen":
It
was a blistering hot day in central Oklahoma the second
time I saw the little buckskin dog that, as fate would have
it, was eventually to change my life. We were in the midst
of the heat wave of 1980, suffering through over forty straight
days of hundred degree plus temperatures, and when I heard
the knock at my door, I really didn't feel like answering,
not just because of the heat, but due mostly to one of the
worst hangovers of my adult life. Fortunately I did answer,
only to be confronted by a fellow who looked at least as
bad as I felt. I didn't recognize him immediately as we
had only met once before and it wasn't until I saw the dog
in the back seat of his car that I knew who it was that
had summoned me from my nauseous stupor aboard the "porcelain
pony" in my bathroom.
He
said, "I know you know about these dogs and I was wondering
if you would give me thirty-five dollars for him. I have
to go away to McAlester (state prison) for a few months
and my wife doesn't like the dog. Its okay if you want to
fight him or whatever." My first impulse, standing
there staring at him, his long sweat-soaked hair clinging
to the ashen skin of his face and neck, (and my stomach
doing cartwheels across my torso ) was to tell him to "take
a hike" so I could rush back to my retreat in the "John".
But a little voice in the back of my brain (the crazy "dog
man" voice ) said "Hey Bill, you cannot raise
a pup to a year old for thirty-five dollars, much less buy
one. Maybe you should give it a shot?" I said, "Wait
here. Ill see if I have the cash." It turned out to
be one of the luckiest ( if not the most immediately enjoyable
) decisions I've ever made.
I
must confess I didn't even feel like walking the yearling
pup for almost twenty-four hours. I just put him in a crate
downstairs and went back to wishing I were temporarily dead.
I remember marveling at how uncannily silent the dog was,
never making a peep the whole time, nor did he soil his
crate before I finally got around to taking him out. It
was only then that I saw he was absolutely covered with
ticks! They were in his ears, between his toes, in his armpits,
everywhere! So, after he took a long, long pee and moved
his bowels our first mission was to soak him good with a
powerful insecticide.
* Courtesy of KeepemScratchin Kennels
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More From Dog Fighters:
"In Their Own Words"
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On
the "fairness" of dog fighting, and the
judgment of those involved:
"A Virginia dogman coerced his owner (who was
very new to the dogs) into putting five dogs on the
pup - three one after the other in the morning and
two more eight hours later when the dog was sore and
swollen - and the last two were three time winners.
The pup off Bandit (blinded in one eye, one back leg
broken and his head, chest, both shoulders and both
stifles badly damaged) finally quit, coming across
and standing parallel with the dog on his last scratch. " The Complete Gamedog" by
Ed and Chris Faron.
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On
the "concern" for their dogs, and the types
of homes these pups are dumped into:
"We put this young dog on an extremely hard-biting
chest dog that later went on to beat a good dog in
23 minutes. That young dog held the other dog out
and danced around for about 15 minutes - looking back
we realize how much of a puppy he really was at the
time, he didn't show any real aggression and acted
as if it was all a game? At 15 minutes the match dog
got in his chest and shoulders and hurt him real bad,
he might have even broken his shoulder (the pup was
on 3 legs immediately) and at 18 minutes the pup stood
the line. We gave him away as a pet and were patting
ourselves on the back about how smart we were to have
found out he was a cur right away instead of feeding
him until he was two years old, or older. ... Since
leaving our yard, the dog we gave away had gotten
his leg badly broken while running loose (and was
permanently cripples as a result) was kept half-starved
and full of worms, and had been rolled many times,
the last time at 35 pounds (his bottom match weight
would have been about 37 -38 pounds) into a dog 25
pounds bigger. He stopped the dog from the bottom
in half an hour making game, stumbling scratches while
reportedly completely destroyed. We immediately tried
to get the dog back only to find that he had been
traded to a second person for drugs, then sold to
a third person." The Complete
Gamedog" by Ed and Chris Faron. |
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Of
a "favorite" dog they "loved".
They sat and watched her get destroyed. Some "sport",
eh?
"She was so physically busted up that it was
necessary to take the kennel crate apart to get her
out of it. We spent the next hour or so desperately
trying to save he, but nothing we did helped. Sadie
had destroyed her face so badly that her sinuses were
crushed, her whole face was pulsing up and down as
she breather and air was bubbling out of the holes
on her muzzle and around her eyes. The last thing
Jolene did before loosing consciousness entirely was
thrown up an incredible amount of blood." The Complete Gamedog" by Ed and Chris Faron. |
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Are the dogs killed in a dog fight?
I heard they just fight till one quits.
The most common rules state that a dog which is unable or
unwilling to cross the pit and engage his opponent loses.
Some fights last a very short time, often ending when one
dog bails out of the pit or simply gives up. Other fights
can last hours, with unimaginable tissue damage and agony
inflicted on the dogs. Here, in their own words, are descriptions
of dog fights: |
"The
fifth fight was against Phil's Little George who was
a two time winner and a deep game dog. Virgil experienced
some kidney problems in the fourth fight and and in
the last two weeks before this match the kidney problems
came back. Virgil started out fast and tore a gaping
hole in Little George's chest. Within the first ten
minutes it looked like he was going to put him away.
Then he heated up probably because of the intense
kidney infection. Little George started coming back
into the fight and got Virgil down for a little while.
But the more George tried to put on Virgil, the worse
Virgil bit him right back into the gaping hole that
he opened in the begining of the fight. As they were
standing up battling it out, you could see the blood
dripping out of his chest like you turned on the spigot;
It had been dripping like this from the beginning
of the fight. Little George had weakened and went
down. He had a hold of Virgil's leg. Virgil was chewing
on his head to get him off and it sounded like he
was chewing on his knuckle bone. Phil conceded at
forty three minutes to make this win number "5"
for Virgil."
* Courtesty of KeepemScratchin Kennels |
While
dog fighters will scream bloody murder about
dogs trained for ring or schutzhund, and claim
they don't tolerate "manbiters",
Chinaman, pictured above, is just one of many
modern "gamedogs" which are man
biters and are still used extensively at stud.
Poor judgement in breeding continues to hurt
our breed.
"After
a short stay, Dr. Wood shipped Chinaman to Vince
and Bob in California to make up for an earlier
prospect he had sold them that failed to live up
to expectations. He arrived full of hookworms and
roundworms and weighed only 42 lbs., 4 lbs. below
his eventual best match weight of 46 lbs. Bob kept
him on a long cable run and tried to help him overcome
his emaciated state. Chinaman thanked him by biting
him, so Bob shipped him to Vince. It was love at
first sight. Vince wormed
Chinaman and scheduled a roll for him.
After
a 3-hour drive Chinaman was nauseated and dehydrated.
He was pitted 10 lbs. uphill against a powerful red
dog named Ch. Ceasar who proceeded to mop the floor
with him. When the big dog tired, Chinaman went to
the stifles and punched very hard. Even though he
was still nauseated and underweight he came up from
the bottom to bite down and stop Ceasar at: 28. Chinaman's
next roll was into Doc, a highly respected wrecker.
If he could hang with Doc for even 10 minutes, Chinaman
would be worth a bet. Doc came out hard and slammed
Chinaman into the corner and tried to trade with Chinaman.
Big mistake! Chinaman hit the gut and killed the Doctor
in his own living room in 17 minutes! It was clear
Chinaman was something special."
* Courtesty of KeepemScratchin Kennels |
"Buck,
a Hell Raiser [Wild Side Kennels] pit bull that was
jumping madly toward us, would have sailed 20 feet
in the air if a short chain didn't choke him to a
sudden halt. One of the hangers-on at the kennel teases
Buck, nervously calling, "chicken shit,"
and jumps within a few inches of the seething dog.
Buck launches his body toward the heckler like a salivating
cannon ball. The man jumps back, his face tense with
fear".
* Courtesy of Suzette Thibeault |
The
following was written by a woman dog fighter after
she let her "beloved" pet named Texas Red
die in the pit.
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IN LOVING MEMORY "TEXAS RED"
By Angie Yarbrough
"Sept 17 1994 - Nov 2 2001"
A
fierce warrior, a gentle friend, with a heart as big
as Texas. You greeted death with a wagging tail, knowing
that you have produced better than yourself. Taken
down by your own son. You leave an empty chain and
a sad heart but honor in having had the years with
you. It is you by which I now measure all others,
you showed me true gameness and remarkable heart.
I will honor your memory forever. Your sons and daughters
now lead the way to make your name one of legend. |

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