Off The Chain
ris Crawford says.
Off the Chain
Release: 2005
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 52 Minutes
Studio/Publisher: Bobby J Brown
President Theodore Roosevelt owned one. So did Helen Keller. This breed of dog was the trademark of Buster Brown shoes and RCA Victor. Petey was the canine star of television's Our Gang. And Stubby was the most decorated dog in American history, having received numerous medals and the honorary rank of Sergeant for his services during World War I. What do these famous dogs have in common? They were all American pit bull terriers.
How did such a beloved breed come to be feared as a "public enemy," now banned in more than 200 U.S. counties and the entire province of Ontario, Canada? That's what director Bobby J. Brown seeks to show in his new film Off the Chain, available on DVD from Ardustry Home Entertainment.
Beginning with a history of the American pit bull terrier, the film explores the evolution of the breed and gives viewers a disturbing look into the minds of the dog owners and trainers who participate in the gruesome world of dogfighting.
This film goes inside the belly of the beast, and the beast isn't the pit bull terrier, it's man. This is the ultimate betrayal of man's best friend. The director exposes the fastest growing crime in America—dogfighting. Off the Chain is a horrifying glimpse into the world where the special relationship between man and dog has been perverted.
Brown spent three years infiltrating the underground subculture of pit bull fighting. Gaining the trust of well-established "dog men" who allowed him to film behind their veil of secrecy, Brown shot footage of dog training, police raids, and the fights themselves. But he also captured another side: The loving nature of the dogs and their brutal misuse by those who are supposed to be their caretakers.
"I was raised around pit bulls and didn't realize their bad reputation," says Brown. "They were great, loyal pets."
Brown, who still owns a pit bull, notes how people will remark how cute their dog is when they see her playing with his daughters. "Then they ask what kind of dog she is, and they recoil in horror when I tell them she's a pit bull."
People don't realize that fighting dogs are made through intensive breeding and cruel training methods.
"Dog men are out to breed the most aggressive dogs," Brown says. "If a dog doesn't want to fight, he's labeled a 'cur.' Such a dog weakens the bloodline and is eliminated."
Despite the aggression bred into these animals, they are very friendly toward people. They have to be to be handled in the ring.
"I could walk up to dogs, who are kept in a factory-like system where they are chained out every 20 feet, and they'd all come up to me with licks and wagging tails. That was the most disturbing thing—that a dog who is that loyal and friendly would be destroyed because he wasn't aggressive enough."
Off the Chain producer Troy Garity is the son of author and social activist Tom Hayden, who is featured in the film. Garity felt strongly that the story Brown documented needed to be told.
"I felt representative of the majority of the public," he says. "I was ignorant and fearful of pit bulls. But all the myths began to evaporate before me as I worked on the film. Now I'm in love with the breed."
He says the film is "hard to watch, but it's important. From all sides, the dogs end up losing, and they desperately need our support."
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Off the Chain is a graphic hour-long documentary detailing the origin and evolution of both the dog breeds collectively referred to as “Pit Bull Terriers” and their human admirers. The film begins with a historical overview of the use of bulldogs for bull baiting, a popular form of British entertainment during the 18th and 19th centuries. Once England banned the practice, dog vs. dog fights were arranged and Bulldogs were subsequently bred with Terrier breeds to produce the Pit Bull family.
The documentary follows the migration and breeding of the American Pit Bull Terrier, its short-lived status as an all-American dog and eventual decline into violent status symbol. In the latter [present-day] stage, the film-makers give equal air time to the breeders who engage in dog-fighting and the activists / police who oppose them.
The dog-fighting participants wear disguises and defend their activities as sport. After proclaiming his love for the breed, Dog Man Tucson – a participant in and strong advocate of dog fighting as a sport – explains in detail the ad-hoc surgeries dog owners perform on injured pit bulls. Dog training, which begins with the mild baiting of baby pit bulls, can be as innocuous as treadmill exercises or as extreme as standing on a dog mid-fight or filing teeth to a sharp point. Steroid injections have also become popular among breeders, though even the breeders in the film admit that it is easy to damage or kill the dog by administering the shots improperly.
Off the Chain requires a strong stomach to watch and will not be to everyone’s taste. If there is a bias in the film it is against the dog fighting industry, but observing the brutal training and disposal of young pit bulls makes pure objectivity impossible.
(Kris Crawford, Kristine Crawford, For Pits Sake)
