In America, most of the economy is based, in some way, on sports which include but not limited to football, soccer, and baseball. There are some instances, however, where individuals view certain sports differently, especially when they involve animals. Although many individuals see it as a sport, dogfighting constitutes as abuse because of the prices paid for the humans’ gain.
Many dogfighters want to claim that dogfighting is simply another sport; however, the underlying effects it has on the animals are more severe than on humans. These canines “spend their lives alone on chains or in cages and only know the attention of a human when they are being trained to fight and they only know the company of other animals in the context of being trained to kill them. Most dogs spend their entire lives without adequate food, water, or shelter” (Gibson, Legal). The details grow increasingly gruesome when it comes to the training techniques because they “involve torturing and killing of other innocent animals. Often pets are stolen or otherwise obtained to be used as live bait in training exercises to improve the dogs’ endurance, strength, or fighting ability. If the bait animals are still alive after the training sessions, they are usually given to the dogs as a reward, and the dogs finish killing them” (Gibson, Legal). If a human was given to a wrestler as a means for strengthening his or her muscles and this resulted in death, it would definitely be abuse; dogs are no different. Man’s best friend is used as a training device for a canine to kill another. In the end, the training dog dies and the loser of the next fight perishes, so two dogs are abused and die for this so-called sport. These elements of dogfighting scream nothi...
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...g is brought to an end, one can be sure that the crime rate will decrease which will benefit the United States in all aspects.
Works Cited
Evans, Rhonda, and DeAnn K. Gauthier. “Dogfighting: Symbolic Expression and Validation of Masculinity.” Sex Roles 39.11/12 (1998): 825-38. Academic Search Premier.
Gibson, Hanna. “Dog Fighting Detailed Discussion.” Animal Legal and Historical Center. Michigan State University College of Law, 2005. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.
---. “Dog Fighting General Overview.” Animal Legal and Historical Center. Michigan State University College of Law, 2005. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.
---. “Dog Fighting Legal Overview.” Animal Legal and Historical Center. Michigan State University College of Law, 2005. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.
Von Drehle, David, and Karen Ball. “Abused No More.” Time 174.22 (2009): 44-49. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Feb. 2011
This produced a dog with a high prey drive with a medium-sized, stocky build and powerful jaws. Contrary to popular belief, the dogs were originally used in the sport of bull-baiting, where dogs would attack the cattle - not other dogs. Since the sport was executed in a pit, the dogs were dubbed ‘pit bull’ and that name has stuck since. When the sport was banned in 1835, the people who relied on these dogs for an income turned the dogs against each other. Their family friendly reputation changed, “around 1976, when animal-fighting venues were added to the Animal Welfare Act, according to Donald Cleary of the National Canine Research Council. Pits--often trained as combatants--came to be seen as dangerous. Throughout the next two decades, stories about vicious pits mauling innocent children appeared in news outlets across the country” (Tullis 3). Interestingly enough, pit bulls were not always the breed under fire by society. In the 1800’s, bite reports by bloodhounds, which were often used to hunt down escaped slaves, flooded the Northeastern newspapers. After World War ll, there was an increase of bite reports by German Shepherd Dogs, a breed used by the Nazis. Pit bulls are the most recent breed of dog to be misjudged. People began to fear pit bulls, this fear
For owning a dog that wasn’t registered or not obeying with the rules once it is registered by keeping it on a leash and muzzled when in public as well as in a car resulted in the dog being destroyed. There were no other options that were available to the courts. The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is the greatest proof that the principles of democracy and justice have been unashamedly ignored. Parents and children were left in tears with their dogs being taken away from them for months and kept in kennels in secret locations.
Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/breed-specific-legislation/fact_sheets/breed-specific-legislation-flaws.html.
The term “breed-specific legislation” is not one that comes up often in day-to-day discussion for most people. Breed-specific legislation refers to all laws that seek to restrict or eliminate ownership of certain animal breeds, most often dog breeds. It was first conceived as a method of controlling and reducing animal cruelty, as well as mitigating the occurrence of dog-related human injuries and the illegal activities of dog-fighting and related crimes. Breed-specific legislation is distinct from animal control laws that restrict ownership of wild or demonstrably dangerous (those with a past history of unacceptable, aggressive behavior) animals, because breed-specific legislation makes a blanket restriction on all animals of a certain breed regardless of individual history. This means that breed-specific legislation is often promulgated on the basis of breed reputation. In recent years it is the pit bull which has come under the scrutiny of legislative bodies, as their reputation becomes more and more sullied by street crime.
Commonly targeted breeds are usually judged based on their appearances, rather than actual documentation. Various studies have shown that most of the dogs involved in fatal attacks are of unknown breed, and most of them are intact. Owner responsibility is perhaps the most important aspect of preventing aggressive behaviors. Even though sometimes a dog is properly trained and cared for by his or her owner, there is still the possibility of aggression regardless of breed. The best place to start in order to make the world a safer place for other animals and humans, laws demanding a higher standard of care for animals should be implemented.
If you’re a pit bull owner in Sioux City, Iowa, you are faced with certain ordinances that make it more difficult to own and keep your dog. This is Sioux City’s attempt to keep its citizens’ safe and prevent the abuse and harm of the pitbull. The city is trying to promote safety and animal advocacy. This ordinance is not effective because it punishes the animal and not the owner; it also does not take into account the animals individual personality. Legislators should create laws that consider all dogs based on their individual behavior and hold owner accountable for their animals.
National Canine Research Council. Denver's Breed-Specific Legislation: Brutal, Costly, and Ineffective. National Canine Research Council. N.p., 2012. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
In the New Yorker article “Offensive Play,” by Malcolm Gladwell, he makes a comparison between dogfighting and football, claiming that they tend to be more similar than people may conclude. Gladwell argues this because they both develop a negative effect on one’s body and brain causing several physical and mental changes that could possibly lead to death. However, some of these events that cause injury go without notice until later on in life when they have retired from their “glory days.”
Dogs have impacted the lives of 44% of American families and homes. People use dogs for much more than just a family friend. Dogs are used for special needs, assisting police, and hunting and tracking. Dogs should be appreciated and never taught to fight or be neglected. Dog fighting is unethical because man’s best friend shouldn’t have to fight for their lives.
b. “Many people have a difficult time properly identifying a true Pit Bull, so added to the statistics are those dogs that have been misidentified. Considering these factors, the actual number of attacks attributable to American Pit Bull Terriers is considerably lower than represented,” according to the real pit bull. i. Do you think a 4 pound Pomeranian dog would hurt anybody? ii. Stated in the Dog Bite Law, “The most horrifying example of the lack of breed predictability is the October 2000 death of a 6-week-old baby, which was killed by her family 's Pomeranian dog.” a. The American Temperament Test is a test that measures a dog strong avoidance, unprovoked aggression, and panic without recovery. “American Pit Bull Terriers passed the test at a rate of 85.3%,” according to Pitbulls.org. They have the highest test scores, and they out beat the golden retriever “family dog” by 7.7%. iii. I identify the justice of my rival’s claim, but I disagree with my rival’s 100 percent about pit bulls having the highest attacks. c. Now you can see how my rival made a mistake because they didn’t evaluate and understood the facts as clearly as they
Aggression directed toward owners is not a unique occurrence, and it is one that causes an emotional struggle between owner and pet. Assessment and treatment of this troublesome behavior problem must take into account the owners safety as well as practical expectations for improvement. Comparatively mild aggression may be...
United States. House of Representatives. Committee on Agriculture. “Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act.” Thomas Library of Congress. Government Publication Office. 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2013
...ed by owner or animal that is not covered by another, non-breed specific portion of the Animal Control Code (i.e., vicious animal, nuisance animal, leash laws).”
Currently, pit bulls have been reported by the media with very horrific and disturbing news of having attacked a child or being shot by a police due to aggression while some are reported to have been abused or neglected by its owners (Forderer and Unkelbach 534). And because the reports keep coming with heated discussions, more and more people have forged a frightening image of pit bulls even to the extreme of refusing to take care of such breed. Pit bull advocates claim that the dogs get a bad reputation considering that people should learn the dogs are not inherently aggressive. What the pit bull advocates would like to point is that the owners of the pit bulls should be considered guilty for mishandling of their own dogs. There are owners of pit bulls that even encourage the dog to be aggressive in order to fight and protect them in a wrong manner and wrong degree of training (Forderer and Unkelbach 536). Pit bull advocates claimed that a well socialized and well trained pit bull would be very intelligent and could be one of the gentle dogs imaginable.
For animal welfare and the causes of animal abuse new research has been created. Since animal abuse is fairly a new subject, new research is constantly brought up. In the Bahamas a study was done in the College of Bahamas, and it states that, “…dogs were equally likely to be considered members of the household in homes without domestic violence,” (Fielding 197). Homes with violence show that humans substitute human victims for animal victims. Animal rights activists are trying to break down symbolic boundaries betw...