Manifesto

Dog fighting rings exist all over america. Most of them can be found rather easily if someone has a high enough interest in them. They generally consist of managers, bookies, and "trainers". The managers collect all the admission money, run the kennels that typically consist of no food and little water, the dogs chained down and tools to beat them with in order to aggravate or just because they want to.
The bookies collect the bets. The bets are that one dog will win over another dog-which ends in death or surrender. Surrendering may seem like both dogs live but the loser will be killed by his owner anyway.
Trainers will beat the living hell out of these dogs. Metal poles, slamming them into the ground, electrocution, starvation, etc. Anything that will make this beautiful dog so angry that he turns into something that is against his nature-a killing machine.

A popular case in point is Michael Vick. HIs ring "Bad News Kennels" was located in Virigina. It has a known operation of about 4-5 years. His tactics included growing dogs in a 5 gallon bucket of water while another man held his hind legs if they did not fight properly, execution through throwing the dogs heads into the ground, hanging them, or electrocution. He would do this to dogs would won, lost, didn't look like they could fight, or just were in front of them. He also said that he got an adrenaline rush out of these disgustingly inhumane murders. Michael Vick would also through any helpless dog into the ring with a hungry pit bull or Rottweiler just to watch them die for entertainment.

Michael Vick was convicted in 2006, and was signed on a million dollar contract with the Eagles in 2009.

Problems?

HUGE PROBLEMS. For just a moment lets look beyond his horrific acts against these animals and focus on his mentality. He got a rush from murdering, he loved the empowerment he had over the helpless or lifeless bodies and felt no remorse for his actions…why is he allowed on the street? Why would he stop at dogs-someone with this amount of hatred does not have the mental capacity to differentiate between dogs and lets say children or women. Nowadays his ring has bee turned into a shelter for dogs where he claims he is a changed man and wants to help them, these being his own words after only 21 months in prison and definitely not a PR rep, right? Wrong. People like this cannot make up for the horrors they have committed.

Vick is just one example, nationally dog fighting ring owners are not sentenced to the right amount of time they deserve. They are animal abusers and even if they live these dogs will never be able to rehabilitate to who they should have become, they will never trust any human or dogs and will only ever know the act defensively. They will never know love, compassion or even what it means to be alone in peace.

Dog fighters get their pit bulls by force breeding females, or even kidnapping. Generally a breed like a Shepard or Rottweiler they breed or steal from owners. They are documented stories of Rottweilers and German Shepard's being stolen from houses and being forced into fighter rings due to their exceptional strength, massive teeth, and large monetary value. Which leaves the original owners in a  state of devastation knowing they lost their dogs and that they all never help them or see them again.


Dog fighting operators, or any individual who participates should have to pay the correct amount. Every single penny that goes into that place needs to be paid back to the shelters or to attempt to rehabilitate the remaining dogs so they can live out their lives in as much peace as possible. They should be sentenced to as many years in prison as deaths they have caused at least! If someone mutilates 3 dogs that should be minimum 3 years. Every dogs life they have ruined or any dog that has been severely injured should be additional months. Community service to animal shelters should also be added once they are regrettably released. These punishments need to ensue in order to instill a sense of fear into these despicable people in order to lessen and eventually diminish the dog fighting ring community. 


Dogs are good-natured beings. Places like this give certain breeds bad reputations but they are not bad animals. If any of these breeds are brought up in a loving environment they will return the love ten times over. Dogs will be your best friend, your protector, and your companion for their entire life. They should not be punished for that.