I was horrified to watch as these dogs were forced to fight each other for the entertainment and profit of their owners! And if the dog lost, it was killed. Not humanly euthanized. KILLED. Some were hung from trees, others beaten to death, others left to die from the injuries they experienced in the fighting ring. Hell, if a grown man want to put on gloves and get into the ring in order to beat the living shit out of another other so that they can be punch-drunk later in life: more power to him. He knows what he is getting into and the risks involved. These dogs fought - not because they are solely bred to be mean, but because they have an inherent need to PLEASE their owners! You could actually hear the owners saying "Good Boy/Good Girl" to their dogs on the videos.
Now, I know Pit Bulls* are scary looking dogs. Often fighting dog owners crop the dog's ears and bulk up the dog in order to have a meaner looking animal. Fighting dogs endure months, even years of abuse in the name of "training" in order to make them vicious. At times, I did not know which was worse: the fighting videos or the videos of the training and captivity of the dogs. The breeds of dogs used in these fights have been given (and some have earned) a reputation as being aggressive. I know that people have died from attacks by pit bulls, rottweillers and wolf hybrid breeds. I am not saying that doesn't happen. Personally, I blame careless breeders and owners who line-breed or trait-breed in order to create more aggressive fighting dogs. What the hell are these people thinking? I can't find a single reason WHY this sport made it out of the colosseum and into modern day culture.
There are those who say the breeds should be banned. That it is in their nature to be aggressive. I don't believe that, especially after watching what happened to these dogs after they were confiscated. I can't advocate the extermination of a species based on a few "bad apples". That argument didn't work for the Eugenics movement or The Nazis and I don't think it holds water for taking out a dog breed. But that is not the point of this blog.
What amazed me about the dogs involved in the Michael (rot in hell you scum sucking pig) Vick case was that with the exception of two of the dogs, who had to be euthanized for health reasons, ALL of the dogs were rehabilitated and placed in homes or rescue agencies!!! One even works as a therapy dog with the elderly! I was moved to tears by the sight of dogs who were once trained to fight to the death, giving unconditional love to another human being. Puppies and adult dogs playing, fetching balls, running with their new owners, and giving kisses in return for good belly rubs like normal companion pets. I found it interesting that a soul with every reason to HATE based on the inhumane treatment it had experienced until that time in its life, could learn to forgive and love those very creatures who had shown it no mercy.
Ms. Tastrophie has to wonder about the world in which she lives. Apparently we are not as evolved as we would like to think we are. If we have learned to hate one another based on a skin color, job description, or religious affiliation, how can we claim to be above one who can't even hold a fork? Yeah, I am being a hypocrite by saying I hope Michael Vick gets @$$-pounded in prison for his part in all this and I know that some will never think that the breed is redeemable, no matter what anyone says. For me, watching those dogs find a new leash in life was enough to restore some of my faith in man-kind (even a very little for Michael Vick ~ who really does deserve to rot in some level of hell).
So my thought is this: Who knew that the key to man-kind's redemption could be found in the heart of a once trained killer?
*The pit bull is a type of dog bred for fighting, not a specific breed. Responsibly bred and owned, the American Staffordshire Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier -- often referred to as pit bulls -- are not fighting dogs.
10 comments:
I think it's amazing and beautiful these dogs can be rehabilitated. What they went through early in life in incomprehensible.
Great thanks, now I'm crying and I didn't even watch the damn special. But I want to. It breaks my heart to think of animals being trained and treated that way. I am going to go play with my dogs now.
I saw a snippet of that program and it was amazing.
You know what made ME sick? The way that some people jumped to Vick's defense (and what he and his fighting group did is, clearly, indefensible) and played the race card. That's right. Vick was being dumped on because he was black. Not because he tortured these dogs for a profit. Nope. It had everything to do with his skin color and because he was from the South, 'cause gosh-darn-it, all of us Southerners LOVE to watch dogs be brutalized, don't cha know?
Thanks, Whoopie Golberg, you sack of shit. Her ridiculous excuse- making for Vick was on The View. I nearly crawled through the TV screen to strangle her.
I saw this program too. I was sickened by it....and Michael Vick ..and hope he rots in hell.
I was soooo happy to see all but 2 of the dogs were rehabilitated.....they were very loving dogs.
Reenie ~
As a follow-up to DG's, some of the people throwing the race card were doing so at the double-standard that dog fighting is an unacceptable underground tied in with the black community, however cock-fighting is not thrust into the same limelight, despite it being an underground tied with the Hispanic community.
This isn't what Whoopi was talking about, because she's just looking for a fight, but some of the race card was thrown because of this (and this is the one that makes more sense, in this reporter's eyes...not so much because Vick is black but dog fighting is demonized more than cock fighting, which is pretty damned violent and nasty, as well).
My wife cant stand to watch any animal abuse, but the abuse she would deal out to some person would be horrible.
We were camping at Purtis Creek this past week over by Mabank, and a stray a beautiful besenji came into our campsite, and lived with us for the week. Not on a leash like our dog, she was free to go whenever she wanted, but she stayed with us for the whole week, never left the site once after she moved in. My wife feed it, even as our wolf hybrid looked on with GREAT anxiety since he was now sharing his dog food with her, but the payback was that our male, fixt since he was old enough to be fixed, now had a female dog to sniff around.
"Mom, I dont know what this one is, it smells differently than me, I am not sure I know what to do about it, but something tells me I missed out on something, can you tell me what i am to do?" LOL.
My wife wanted so much to take him home. After checking around making sure no one belonged to this dog, no tags coller etc and talking to the camp host, we took the dog we named Purtice to the henderson county spca so she might find a home.
Vanessa: I am too! I cried when I say the therapy dog.
Caps: Hugs to the pups for me.
DG: I would be right there with you. I think it was a crock to say this is a "black" thing. I know a lot of "black" people who think that Whoopie was full of sh*t as well.
Reenie: :-)
Mjenks: I think both "sports" are awful. I think dog fighting gets more press because dogs are companion pets. It's just my theory.
Larry: AWWWWW I am so happy you helped him find a good shelter...and eventually a home. I think anyone who helps rescue an animal gets great rewards in heaven, or karma, or whatever greatness a person believes. P.s. I liked the puppy "quote"
I couldn't even finish reading this not to talk about watching the show.
Yesterday, my cat's tail got caught between my room door by mistake and he yelped out in pain. I spent the entire evening holding him making sure he was okay, I can't imagine people who do horrible things to animals and not feel anything. It's BEYOND me.
I hope he ROTS in jail as well. I'm having a hard time forgiving this one.
Ok so I went back and read the rest of the blog, I was moved by this paragraph
"I found it interesting that a soul with every reason to HATE based on the inhumane treatment it had experienced until that time in its life, could learn to forgive and love those very creatures who had shown it no mercy"
..and I'm still having a hard time forgiving Mike Vick because I don't feel he's contrite at all and would do the same thing in a heartbeat if given the opportunity. As much as I believe in the goodness of mankind, realistically some people are just a lost cause.
Abbie: AMEN to that! I find it hard to forgive Michael Vick. I'm going to have to leave that up to God to do, because I am not that big of a person.
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