 "Of all the creatures, man is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one that possesses
malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. The fact that man knows right from wrong
proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority
to any creature that cannot."--Mark Twain
THOUGHTS ON DOG FIGHTING
Veronique Chesser
Copyright 1997 edited 2003
The American Pit Bull Terrier's story is mired in sad reality. Some fanciers, many who call themselves "dogmen", claim
that in order to produce the real APBT, the dogs must be fought so they can prove their gameness (i.e. willingness to keep
going despite pain and exhaustion). In their opinion, only the candidates that don't quit a fight are true representatives
of the breed and should be bred - The others are called "curs" and eliminated.
Those people firmly believe that the abolishment of "Gametesting" would destroy the APBT breed. They therefore feel completely
justified to continue exploiting dogs by forcing them into the worse possible form of abuse.
Are they right?
To put things in perspective, let me share my personal experience. I own several "Pet Bulls",
all rescue dogs of unknown background. One or two of them "may" be game (I will never know since I don't "test" my dogs),
but the rest would most likely qualify as curs since true game dogs are far in between. This mean that most of my dogs hopefully
have enough survival instinct to value their life more than to "finish" a fight. Dogmen would call them "quitters", I call
them "winners". However, since they are probably not game enough according to fanciers of that bloody sport, they are not
worthy of their admiration. I can tell you that my dogs, game or not, are wonderful companions and I am very proud of them.
Ironically, they would have received a bullet in the head in the yard of any dogman due to their lack or absence of gameness...
None sense? I think so too.
In light of this, we need to ask ourselves; does the APBT breed really need to be saved? We do have the AST breed after
all. American Staffordshire Terriers were APBTs until 1936. That year the AKC opened its stud books to a few APBTs that fit
a standard they had chosen, and changed the name. The AST was born. A new breed, which was indeed nothing but a Pit Bull taken
out of the pit. If we love the look and the temperament of the Pit Bull, we have it with the AmStaff. In my opinion, there
is simply no need in this day and age, to continue producing dogs for and via the pit.
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Many Pit Bull lovers are completely disgusted by the barbarian practice of dog fighting and don't hesitate to raise a
strong voice against this terrible form of animal cruelty. Unfortunately some other people are being influenced by pro-fighting
material they read in books and on the net, and decide to close their eyes. Some will even encourage this nonsense to continue
by supporting the men and women who throw these dogs in the pit and watch them tear each other apart in order to test their
gameness. Some Pit Bull owners push the paradox as far as disapproving dog fighting publicly, but will only buy dogs from
gametested lines (i.e.: The breeding stock is fought before being allowed to reproduce). Hypocrisy at its best! Those
folks will even have the nerves to tell you they would never fight their own dog and can't bear the thought of their companion
being hurt but for some illogical reasons they believe the suffering of the breeding dogs is justified. This may seem very
hard to understand for those of us who would never let an animal get hurt in the name of some barbaric sport, but these people
are victim of neutralization techniques from dog fighting advocates and don't have the intelligence to question any of it.
The most common argument used to validate this cruel sport is to claim that Pit Bulls love to fight.... Some of these
dogs do fight, this is true, but why? Do they really like it? And if they do, does it really matter? Pit Bulls have been selectively
bred to fight for more than a century. If they will not fight, they are eliminated from the gene pool. Is it right to breed
a dog, kill the ones that don't fight, and then claim it's ok to fight them because the ones you haven't destroyed “like”
to fight? Pit Bull dogs don't love to fight! They are genetically programmed for it!
There are other characteristics like good disposition, stability, superior physical attributes that are presented to
provide justification for fighting these dogs. Even *IF* it was true, how important is it really? There are many great breeds
of dogs that don't have to live a life of hell to make good pets. The fact is, there really is no justification for what this
breed has to endure in the hands of dog fighters.
Pit fighting (call it gametesting if you want), is nothing but a barbaric blood sport invented to fulfill the sick need
for violence of cowardly and insecure individuals. Pit Bulls don't have to be fought to be great dogs, and all of us who own
wonderful game or not *Pet Bulls* have absolutely no doubt about this.
Those who don't agree with this need to ask themselves a question; Do you really need a game dog to boost your lack of
confidence and poor self esteem? Wouldn't you take more pride in your own gameness and courage? I know the answer to that
question. Hopefully you do too.
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Teens Charged in Pit Bull Fighting
By Associated Press
PALATKA, Fla. (AP) -- Three teen-agers were charged with baiting and fighting animals after police stopped a dog fight
and seized three pit bulls.
A 13-year-old and two 15-year-olds were charged with the felony after a police office found the dogs fighting in a vacant
lot Saturday next to Jenkins Middle School.
The officer saw a group of youths encouraging and cheering on the dogs, said Lt. Rodney Harper.
The dogs, which had fresh and healed wounds, were taken to a veterinarian and will be held by animal control officers.
Meanwhile, a Lake City man said two dogs attacked and killed several penned deer on Sunday, according to Columbia County
Sheriff's Office reports.
Russell Depratter told a deputy he walked outside around 8 a.m. and saw a black shepherd dog and a pit bull dog attacking
the deer, which were enclosed by a 7-foot fence, the reports said.
Five deer were dead and three others were injured.
The Lake City Animal Shelter was called, but the dogs could not be found, the reports said.
Additional details were not immediately released.
An Entertainer Speaks Out
Bill Goldberg knows something about dogs. He used to play football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Now, he's
a world-known wrestler. Yet one of his biggest passions involves rescuing dogs from what he calls the "insanity of dogfighting."
Goldberg has testified before Congress asking for tougher animal abuse legislation. He told us he'd like to find dogfighters
"one by one and take them into a ring against their will and show them how it really feels." He says entertainers like DMX
are wrong to use dogfighting as a selling point for their music.
I would add more to this page, but just the thought of putting up one more picture or posting one more story makes me
physically ill. This is just a taste of what these sick, demented people do to our beloved APBT's.
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