Dogfighters get creative as spotlight on Vick case fades

Dogfighters get creative as spotlight on Vick case fades

www.cnn.com

CNN) -- When pro quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty to bankrolling a dogfighting operation in 2007, there was a spike in reports of dogfighting in the United States.

But when the headlines faded, the blood sport grew stronger and went even more underground, with thugs taking inventive precautions to keep police at bay, animal cruelty experts say.

"They know it's just not smart to have large crowds anymore, so we've seen fights where you've got the two handlers, a referee and Web cams everywhere broadcasting the fight on the Internet," said Mark Kumpf, an investigator based in

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Fights are also being staged on the move -- in 18-wheelers. "These guys are very sophisticated," Kumpf said. "If you're driving down the road, there could be dogs in that truck driving next to you that are dying."

Dozens more dogfighting cases have been investigated and prosecuted since the Vick case, said Alison Gianotto, who runs the database PetAbuse.com.

The computer programmer, horrified when a neighbor's cat was set on fire eight years ago, created the California-based organization to track animal cruelty cases and animal abusers.

I am disgusted at this. I can not understand why anyone would want to subject animals to this kind of abuse. And here, all this time, I was under the impression that dog fighting was on the decline since the Vick case.

www.cnn.com
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Originally posted by Aggie Man

I am disgusted at this. I can not understand why anyone would want to subject animals to this kind of abuse. And here, all this time, I was under the impression that dog fighting was on the decline since the Vick case.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I think it is quite easy to understand. These sick people put animals in harms way for $$$.

Just look at the way humans are treated for financial gain and it's easy to see why other violent acts against animals are committed for money.

I do agree tho, it is disgusting what some people are capable of.

We laud and celebrate those human pitbulls that climb into the UFC ring to pummel each others brains out.

Why should we be so shocked that we also like to see animals fight to the death.

I don't advocate dog fighting, however what makes it any different then say a chicken or cow being bread for the sole purpose of being slaughtered for food? I don't hear a mass outcry about all the chickens that are forced to spend their lives in a cage being forced fed and their eggs collected then slaughtered.

If an animal is breed for a specific purpose why is that purpose any more appalling then another? Is it because you don't directly benefit from it?

reply to post by Aggie Man

I can not understand why anyone would want to subject animals to this kind of abuse.

They do it simply because they can. They do it because in their weak twisted sick little minds it gives them power.

I hope that anybody that is involved in this heartless dispicable form of torture is eventually caught and placed (one at a time) in a locked cage with a few of the dogs that they helped to torture.

reply to post by Retseh


pitbulls? those are people with the ability to not fight whenever they want. Um, dogs aren't as smart as people and will rely on instinct when bred to.

reply to post by chise61


That and they know that they only get a slap on the wrist for doing it. Animal cruelty should result in much more severe penalties....and I hiope Vick breaks his spine this year

He doesnt deserve a backbone

reply to post by Retseh


Do they fight to the death in the UFC rings, and if i'm not mistaken they fight of their own free will.

These dogs have no choice in the matter and they are forced to either rip another to shreds, or be ripped to shreds themselves. It's heartless, barbaric, and disgusting and so is anyone that enjoys watching something like that. Any person that enjoys watching something so terrible has some serious mental issues, IMO.



reply to post by zarlaan




Chickens and cows are not forced to fight each other to the death having their necks and jaws ripped apart.

I'm in no way saying that these animals are treated humanely, but you can't compare a farm animal being bred and killed for consumption to a dog being bred to rip another to shreds so people can watch.

There is plenty of outcry over the way chickens, cows, and many other animals are treated.

Nobody can explain to you why a dog being bred for dogfighting is more appalling. it's just a personal belief, either you feel it or you don't.

reply to post by OzWeatherman


The only justice where Vick is concerned would be if a couple of those dogs got ahold of him and cornered him alone with no where to run. What a pathetic excuse for a human being he is

Originally posted by chise61
reply to post by Retseh

 

Do they fight to the death in the UFC rings, and if i'm not mistaken they fight of their own free will.

These dogs have no choice in the matter and they are forced to either rip another to shreds, or be ripped to shreds themselves.

Exactly.

The saddest part about dogfighting is not the fight itself (which is terrible), but the level of abuse the dogs are exposed to in order to raise them to be fighters.

It's absolutely disgusting that Michael Vick is playing this season, I was shocked when I found out. He was only implicated two years ago for this heinous crime, and already he's back in the NFL. It just goes to show you that if you throw a football well, your celebrity status can help you overcome almost any crime.

reply to post by drwizardphd



It amazes me how much sports celebraties are allowed to get away with in this country. Slap on the wrist and they're right back in the limelight again, it's as if the people have made them into gods or something.

Originally posted by Retseh
We laud and celebrate those human pitbulls that climb into the UFC ring to pummel each others brains out.

Why should we be so shocked that we also like to see animals fight to the death.

Because the humans have a choice? Free will?

Big Duh.

reply to post by drwizardphd


I have to disagree with Vick getting special treatment for being a NFL player. I think he was made an example of and if he wasn't famous not only would the investigation not of been half as intense but the punishment would of been less as well. Not only did he lose two years of his life he lost 100 million dollars for a crime that did not hurt a human being. I think complaining about dog fighting not being a harsh enough penalty is a joke when rapist murderers and billion dollar thefts are getting slaps on the wrist.

That being said I am a huge animal lover and if someone hurt my dog I'd protect her like my child. Let the guy move on with his life, further punishing him is not doing anything to help minimize the cruelty which is happening to dogs.

I hate dogfighting but slaughterhouses and chicken-factories and the "sport" of hunting cause thousands of times the animal suffering caused by dog-fighting

Read this article and tell me you're better than Vick.

www.americanchronicle.com...

Originally posted by OzWeatherman
reply to post by chise61

 

That and they know that they only get a slap on the wrist for doing it. Animal cruelty should result in much more severe penalties....and I hiope Vick breaks his spine this year

He doesnt deserve a backbone

Word to that. I can't even begin to express my opinions on dog fighting (and any animal cruelty cases) As I'd be instantly banned for using about a kajilion naughty words, and making some new ones up along the way. It makes my blood boil. I'd love to see the people involved tortured to death by the dogs they turture. I'd pay to see it, and their screams of pain and terror would gently rock me to sleep at night.

Sub human surplus scum.

Originally posted by Acidtastic
[ Word to that. I can't even begin to express my opinions on dog fighting (and any animal cruelty cases) As I'd be instantly banned for using about a kajilion naughty words, and making some new ones up along the way. It makes my blood boil. I'd love to see the people involved tortured to death by the dogs they turture. I'd pay to see it, and their screams of pain and terror would gently rock me to sleep at night.

Sub human surplus scum.

And yet you accept slaughterhouses and chicken-factories and laboratory animal testing and hunting. They cause thousands of times the animal suffering of dog-fighting.

reply to post by chise61


That thing flying over your head is the point. Of course dog fighting is wrong, but a significant number of people enjoy it, just like they enjoy UFC fighting or other forms of combat.

There are certain unpalatable truths in this world, and male attraction to acts of violence between themselves and lesser animals is foremost among them.

You're not supposed to like human nature, just show an appreciation of it.

reply to post by Aggie Man


They see this as nothing more than bloodsport, that's why they do it.

Money, beer, and fighting by their animals, not them.

With them going to webcams, this only will give video evidence, to prosecute them later.

Stupidity breeds, stupidity breeds, stupidity breeds.

The dogs do it because they do not know any better, because their master's tell them it is okay.

So, which are the real animals, the master's, or the dogs who are listening to them and acting upon instinct in order to survive?

reply to post by Retseh


Perhaps the things that are apparent to you are not so appraent to others. A few posters, self-included, took issue with your prior post.

I invite you to come down from your lofty perch and experience life at the layman level. Come fly your freak flag with the rest of us.

Many spoke up against this abhorrent atrocity. We've all heard: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke) That's why we've voiced our opinions against it.

You may skip your holier than thou faux concern and grandiose observations of the human condition. Oh and by the way, please check your gun at the door. I've witnessed you brag about carrying it around.

Besides, the pen IS mightier than the sword.


[edit on 18-8-2009 by kinda kurious]