Dog fighting
[9] Though bull-baiting and bear-baiting were popular throughout the Middle Ages up to the 19th century in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, the British pitted dogs against bulls and bears.
[11] For instance, Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned from 1558 to 1603, was an avid follower of bull- and bear-baiting; she bred Mastiffs for baiting and would entertain foreign guests with a fight whenever they visited England.
[11] In addition to breeding Mastiffs and entertaining foreign guests with a fight, Queen Elizabeth, and later her successor, King James I, built a number of bear gardens in London.
[11] In fact, if a bull was offered for sale in the market without having been baited the previous day, butchers were liable to face substantial fines.
[1] Yet, though historical accounts of dog fighting in America can be dated back to the 1750s, it was not until the end of the Civil War (1861–1865) that widespread interest and participation in the blood sport began in the United States.
[3] For instance, in 1881, the Mississippi and Ohio railroads advertised special fares to a dog fight in Louisville; public forums such as Kit Burns' Tavern, "The Sportman's Hall", in Manhattan regularly hosted matches.
[12] These dogs were also sometimes equipped with metal plates, chains, and collars with sharp spikes or hooked knives in order to be used in wars throughout history.
[28] Other breeds in which dogs at various stages of the breed history have sometimes been used as fighters include the Akita Inu,[29] the Boston terrier,[16]: Table 1 the Bully Kutta,[30] the Ca de Bou,[31] the Dogo Argentino,[32] the Gull Dong,[citation needed] the Gull Terrier,[citation needed] the Neapolitan Mastiff,[33] the Presa Canario,[34] the Spanish Mastiff,[35] and the Tosa.
[3] In fact, the average dog fight could easily net more money than an armed robbery or a series of isolated drug transactions.
[3] These type of fights are often spontaneous; unorganized; conducted for money, drugs, or bragging rights; and occur on street corners, back alleys, and neighborhood playgrounds.
[3] Professionals also use trade journals, such as Your Friend and Mine, Game Dog Times, The American Warrior, and The Pit Bull Chronicle, to discuss recent fights and to advertise the sale of training equipment and puppies.
[43] When a dog is not successful in a fight, a professional may dispose of it using a variety of techniques such as drowning, strangulation, hanging, gun shot, electrocution or some other method.
Drug dealers distribute their illicit merchandise, wagers are made, weapons are concealed, and the dogs mutilate each other in a bloody frenzy as crowds cheer them on.
[citation needed] According to a filing in U.S. District Court in Richmond by federal investigators in Virginia, which was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and published by The Baltimore Sun on July 6, 2007, a losing dog or one whose potential is considered unacceptable faces "being put to death by drowning, strangulation, hanging, gun shot, electrocution or some other method".
These include the Dogo Argentino, the Tosa, the Fila Brasileiro, the Perro de Presa Canario and the American Pit Bull Terrier.
[56] Additionally, article 32 of the Federal Environmental Crimes Law (9.605 of 12 February 1998) prohibits abuse and cruelty against animals under the penalty of imprisonment from three months to one year, and a fine.
[57][56] Dog fighting has been illegal in Canada since 1892; however, the current law requires police to catch individuals during the unlawful act, which is often difficult.
[59] In Costa Rica, dog fights were illegal for decades as a misdemeanor; since 2014 and after a legal reform, they became a felony and are punished with up to three years of imprisonment.
Several daimyōs (feudal lords), such as Chōsokabe Motochika and Yamauchi Yōdō, both from Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture), were known to encourage dog fighting.
[50] In 2019, an investigation by Hidden-in-Sight for the League Against Cruel Sports and the BBC highlighted a global trade in fighting dogs centered in Bulgaria.
5-2017 – Animal Protection and Welfare Act of Guatemala, enacted in April 2017, explicitly prohibits the promotion of, participation in and organisation of shows that include fighting between dogs.
Matches were held in the shanty towns of Tegucigalpa, with fights taking place in a simple sand pit surrounded by bleachers, often with only a few dozen spectators.
[74] Even though it has recently been banned by law, it is still being practiced in rural Pakistan, especially in provinces such as Punjab, Azad Kashmir, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa.
There can be as much as millions of rupees at stake for the owners of winning dogs,[75] so different breeds have carefully been bred and selected specifically for the purpose, such as the Bully Kutta.
10 men were found guilty of being spectators at this dog fight and were sentenced to two years under strict house arrest (Benedict Ngcobo, Gift Nkabinde, Sabelo Mtshali, Thabiso Mahlangu, Bongani Skakane, Lehlohonolo Nomadola, Thulane Dhlosi, Mxolisi Khumalo, Nkosana Masilela, Sipho Masombuka).
It is considered an 'act of animal cruelty' that is punishable by either imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or a fine of 200,000 United Arab Emirates dirham, or both.
[86] Despite periodic dog fight prosecutions, however, illegal canine pit battles continued after the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 of England and Wales.
[88] Sporting journals of the 18th and 19th centuries depict the Black Country and London as the primary English dog fight centers of the period.
This exposé was the final piece of the Project BLOODLINE campaign that was set up to raise awareness of this cruel sport, the current weak sentencing options in the U.K. and show how animal crime links closely to existing policing priorities.
[92] According to a Michigan State University College of Law study published in 2005, in the U.S., dog fighting was once completely legal and was sanctioned and promoted during the Colonial period through the Victorian and well into the 20th century.
