Release The Dogs: Creating A Social Remedy to the Dog Fighting Epidemic
Amanda M. Searle
Spring 2008

Part V - Preventative Solutions

A community that encompasses proper police training, effective education and community outreach, and safe alternatives to dog fighting will serve to stifle the dog fighting epidemic at its source. In order to arrive at the proper community solution, it is appropriate to briefly analyze these three areas of the social remedy.

a. Governmental Responsibility in Police Training
One factor that allows dog fighting to thrive is dog fighting rings are extremely difficult to detect as a result of their secretive nature. Local municipalities need to allocate more funds to the police force in order to sponsor special teams designated to detect dog fighting rings. While these teams should conduct training in order to become more aware of the signs of dog fighting in the communities, it should also be the duty of every police officer to be able to detect the signs of this illegal activity. The Humane Society of the United States offers courses that deal with animal fighting. Topics such as the use of successful investigative techniques, use of informants, undercover operations, search warrants, and care and disposition of seized fighting animals are covered.101

Cities have taken charge as a response to the increase in dog fighting in their communities. Chicago, in particular, has utilized the HSUS as a resource for police training.102 Chicago implemented the HSUS’s End Dogfighting program, which provides police training about dog fighting, educational campaigns targeted to youth, and streetlevel intervention with potential dog fighters.103 Milwaukee, Wisconsin has also taken preventative steps to ending dog fighting within the community. The city added a course for police officers at the academy on how to recognize and pursue dog fighting and other crimes against animals.104 The Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission is working with the police department to implement the program which will include how to identify animal abuse and neglect, assess it for criminal violations, and collect and preserve evidence, as well as how to avoid lethal force when dealing with dogs.105

Police forces in major metropolitan areas can also target the school system and community centers and provide education on the signs to detect dog fighting and the proper procedure to report the illegal activity. Police should educate the community on the following signs. They should describe the equipment associated with dog fighting such as cages, pit rings, heavy chains, and weights. They should also encourage the community to be cognizant of properties where multiple pit bulls reside who appear to consistently have wounds, scars, and untreated injuries. They should educate the public to be aware of blood spatters, veterinarian supplies, and dog fighting magazines that might lead one to believe that an individual is engaged in dog fighting.

Last, an individual should be aware of heavy traffic flow of people and dogs to and from a specified property.106 While some enforcement agencies assert that, in light of the Michael Vick case, a more concerted effort to uncover and prosecute dog fighting will take affect, further community outreach programs can help create community awareness and hopefully suppress dog fighting potential within a particular community at the outset.

b. Community Outreach
In order to deter dog fighting, communities need to implement strategies to increase social awareness through community outreach. Some communities, where dog fighting has run rampant, have initiated such programs which have proved successful.

Three of these outreach programs are illustrated below. D.A.W.G., Lug-Nuts, and Pit Bull Rescue San Diego have been implemented into the Chicago, New Haven, and San Diego communities respectively as a response to the increase in awareness of dog fighting. While each has distinct strategies, the goal of all three programs is the same: ending the violence of dog fighting before society becomes a victim.

i. D.A.W.G.
D.A.W.G. stands for Dog Advisory Work Group, a comprehensive communitywide program formed to address the violence of dog fighting in the Chicago metropolitan area.107 Comprised of the Alliance for Community Peace, the Chicago Police Department, and other agencies, D.A.W.G. implemented a campaign to reduce dog fighting and the violence associated with it in Chicago Communities.108 The Director for the Alliance for Community Peace, Reverend Dr. Walter B. Johnson, Jr, states: “ Whether you like dogs or not, this issue is about violence in our communities—and we must put an end to the senseless torture of living creatures and the psychological scars that dog fighting leaves on the kids that witness this brutality.”109 Cynthia Bathurst, Executive Director of D.A.W.G. adds: “Through education, early intervention and community involvement, we believe that we can significantly reduce violence in general by focusing on violence associated with dog fighting. This will create a more humane generation in the years to come.”110

Indeed, the program, which conducts animal education programs for both adults and children and develops youth intervention programs to stop the social acceptance of these violent crimes, also arms adults and children with the tools necessary for safe interaction with dogs.111 The social impact of this program is imparted through its varied successes. The program has implemented numerous outreach campaigns that have raised awareness in the community. The program assists the city, county, and state with law enforcement, and refers to the Chicago Park District “dog hot line.” And partners with Chicago’s CAPS program, creating court advocacy initiatives in animal abuse cases, and violence prevention.112 The program also creates “beware of pet theft” fliers to alert the community of possible attempts to steal pets for use as “baiting” in dog fights.113 They also conduct education campaigns and assist the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District with procedures, policies, rules, and guidelines based on community consensus.114

D.A.W.G. is a prime example of how a community can take affirmative steps towards creating a safer neighborhood through outreach and awareness. By educating the public, promoting partnerships with law enforcement, and implementing community wide guidelines, the City is moving toward a future where dog fighting is a sport of the past. In order to increase support, however, a program should also encompass an alternative means to vent the competitive nature that may be instilled in the community through its dog fighting rings. Such a humane alternative would provide an outlet to individuals who might otherwise turn to dog fighting in order to show off the competitive nature of their dogs.

ii. Lug-Nuts
Lug-Nuts is a program that was created by Sue Sternberg in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2002, in response to the effects that dog fighting had on her community.115 The popularity of the Lug-Nuts has also spread to New York City. Because young people in her community in New Haven had few role models for healthy interactions with dogs, children would oftentimes spar their dogs in street fights.116 The Lug-Nuts program encourages weight-pulling contests with dogs as a humane alternative to dog fighting.117 While weight-pulling has all of the alluring aspects of dog fighting such as rivalry, enthusiasm, and machismo, it lacks the brutality of the bloodsport.118 The contest allows for children to have an outlet by engaging in a competition that is a safe substitute for dog fighting.

In the competition, snow sleds are loaded with bags of dog food and the dogs are then hooked up to the sleds with a dog-sled gang line.119 They also wear padded pulling harnesses. There is no age limit or size limit for the dogs to participate in the contest, and they cannot be forced to pull. Owners use hot dogs as incentives for the dogs to pull forward and cash prizes are awarded to the winner, second, and third place dogs.120 However, is this cash prize enough to deter dog fighters from engaging in dog fighting which could potentially pay tens of thousands of dollars?

While a prize does provide incentive to enter and compete in these competitions, the lure to compete in dog fighting comes with the potential for a substantial amount of money to be gained after winning a match. That prize or “purse” is usually arrived at through inflated spectator admission fees and bets that can range from $10,000 to $50,000.121 As a consequence, these social alternatives must be coupled with harsher penalties that will actually serve as an effective deterrence.

iii. Pit Bull Rescue San Diego
D.A.W.G. and Lug-Nuts provide a safe alternative to dog fighting. However, neither refocuses on rehabilitating those dogs that become the victims of violence and neglect. Instead of euthanizing dogs that are bred to dog fight, communities should take rehabilitative measures to try and reintegrate these victims back into society.

One example of rehabilitative measures is the Pit Bull Rescue San Diego. Pit Bull Rescue San Diego (PBRSD) is a volunteer non-profit organization committed to rescuing and re-homing pit bulls, and educating the public by advocating responsible dog ownership.122 The PBRSD, founded in 2004 as a shelter for pit bulls across the country, has grown into a charitable non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about the pit bull breed and helping to save lives in the process.123 The rescue program is founded upon the premise that the public is misinformed about the breed and creating a positive image will encourage owners to take more responsibility for their dogs.124 Dogs that unfortunately end up in bad homes may become homeless as a result.125 And three quarters of homeless dogs that end up in shelters end up destroyed.

This number increases with the Pit Bull breed because of the public’s preconceived misunderstanding about the temperament of the dog.126 The program is dedicated to helping pit bulls find loving homes, while continuously addressing dog fighting and the inhumane treatment of pit bulls.127 By re-homing the victims of dog fighting into loving families, programs such as the PBRSD provide the community with a sense of partnership and pride in overcoming the dog fighting epidemic that has run rampant throughout the country.

Part VI - Conclusion - click here

Part I - The Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act - click here
Part II - The Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act - click here
Part III - State Law Comparison: California and Nevada - click here
Part IV - Breed Specific Legislation Not The Answer - click here
Part V - Preventative Solutions - click here
Part VI - Conclusion - click here

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