My husband casually asked me the other day what I thought of the controversy going on surrounding dog fighting and Michael Vick... I'm pretty sure even HE wasn't prepared for the passion in my response, despite being married to me for almost ten years!

I have been following (and tracking) the issues of dog fighting and dog biting now for months... Long before Vick became news... Or before it became a federal crime to participate in dog fighting...

It began when I was researching the topic of the dog and cat fur trade and stumbled upon the usage of ALL products of this barbaric trade... Learning dog toys and chewies were being exported into the United States and Great Britain which came from the by-products of the Chinese dog fur trade caused me to ponder over a dilemma that has long bothered me - why is it "all of sudden" and "without warning" a friendly dog turns on the neighbor's cat, or another dog?...

Could it be that we are telling our pets it is OK by giving them toys and chewies made out of the body parts of other dogs and cats destroyed in the Chinese fur trade industry?

Sorta/kinda makes you wonder, huh?

And when I wonder, I tend to wander to find either reasons to support my suspicions or facts to reach the conclusion my instincts are wrong... As I started researching aggression in dogs, I became shocked at the huge problem of dog bites and attacks... It was much worse than I even imagined...

When you research canine aggression, you can't help but find articles on dog bites, dog attacks, dog maulings and dog fighting... It seems all of these topics are interrelated in some form or fashion... So last year when dog fur coats were being sold, I began my archive of dog bites, attacks, maulings and the topic of dog fighting...

I'm a 'newbie' in this - there are others and organizations who have been fighting to outlaw dog fighting for YEARS~~!!!... So why hasn't it been stopped long ago? And specifically because of this topic, I am no longer proud to say I'm from Louisiana when asked because I'm ashamed my homeland state is the only state in the U.S. where dog fighting isn't taken seriously enough to be legislated against at the state level.

Those that own the gentle Pit Bulls are fighting an uphill battle... And one I think they will not win... While years ago, the Dobies, Rotties and German Shepherds developed bad reputations, the breeds were able to overcome it eventually because their aggressiveness was used to serve humans in protection situations...

But the Pit Bull might not be able to overcome the bad reputation they now have because it is a dog-to-dog fighting issue which serves no good purpose other than to kill another dog...

Now that Michael Vick has made the news, people are even more against the Pit Bull... But somewhere along the way they have forgotten there's another side to this issue... The aggressive 'bait dogs' that are used to increase the aggressiveness in those champion fighters...

And if a 'bait dog' isn't aggressive to start out with - or doesn't develop the aggressive behavior - they just die horribly earlier... That might actually be a blessing when you think about it...

The general public needs to ask themselves several questions at this point...

--- Where are the bait dogs coming from? Could our shelters be a source, or the 'free to a good home' ad posted in a newspaper or online somewhere?

--- How many spots in our shelters are being taken by pit bull and pit bull mixes who are being held as evidence in an upcoming court hearing... at the expense of the shelter running out of room and having to put down good, adoptable dogs? Why not drop by your local shelter and walk down 'pit row' because almost every shelter in California has one.

--- Dog fighting is strongly connected to the drug trade... and most street gangs have fighting dogs as their mascots and/or many of their members own dog fighters for the intimidation factor, protecting their drugs, etc. If we step forth our efforts in one aspect, will not the other aspect be affected as well?

--- Who thought up the term 'bully breed'? What kind of PR idea was that? I'm certainly NOT going to support anything attached to the word 'bully' simply because of the connotation of that term alone! On a day to day basis, our kids are faced with 'bullies' from their elementary school days clear through graduation from high school! Why should I support that idea in a dog when I'm against it in children and young adults!

--- "It's not the dog, it's the owner"... Well, if that's the case, why aren't these owners severely punished for destroying a dog's gentle personality and making them aggressive? The dog ends up being put down most of the time, but the owners receive gentle slaps and maybe probation. Instead of going after the breed, we SHOULD be going after the catalyst of the problem!

--- It's a known and proven fact that an intact dog is three times more likely to bite than a spayed or neutered one... and yet? California wasn't able to get a mandatory spay/neuter law passed... We as a state should be ashamed of ourselves - how many more children need to be bitten or mauled? How many more seniors need to be attacked or their pets? Especially when we know an aggressive dog is more easily trained to not react that way when speutered, we're doing nothing to halt the production of these dogs with a propensity to be aggressive by allowing unrestricted breeding like this.

But you know what really put a burr underneath my saddle today?... When I was at the Amazon.com website looking for a book about dogs and books about dog fighting came up... Curious I entered the term "dog fighting" and they are selling books telling you how to do it...

OMG!

I firmly believe in the freedom of the press and against book burning by principle alone... But selling dog fighting books is doing nothing more but sponsoring the dog fighting trade!... eBay stopped selling live animals on their website because of the barbaric idea...

Try contacting Amazon.com and you'll find they don't even have an email you can contact them by unless you've placed an order in the past and have an order number handy to key in... <grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr>... I'm outraged!... Simply outraged!!!

Maybe the final question (or statement) the general public should be asking (or saying) is that we as a society are NOT going to continue supporting vendors, companies and manufacturers that supply to the dog fighting industry at ALL levels - not just a sports personality's shoes and endorsed affiliations... But ALL that contribute in some way to the barbaric dog fighting industry have lost our support - read that as our DOLLAR$$$$!