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	<title>World Change Cafe &#187; Animals In Entertainment</title>
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		<title>Circuses: Three Rings of Abuse (Video and Article)</title>
		<link>http://www.worldchangecafe.com/2009/03/04/circuses-three-rings-of-abuse-video-and-article/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:17:16 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[Animal Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animals In Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barnum & Bailey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beaten]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Circus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Circuses]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Confinement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cramped]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cruel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elephants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Methods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ringling Brothers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shocked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Train]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trainers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Treatment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whipped]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Although some children dream of running away to join the circus, it is a safe bet that most animals forced to perform in circuses dream of running away from the circus. Colorful pageantry disguises the fact that animals used in circuses are captives who are forced-under threat of punishment-to perform confusing, uncomfortable, repetitious, and often painful acts. Circuses would quickly lose their appeal if more people knew about the cruel methods used to train the animals; the cramped confinement, unacceptable travel conditions, and poor treatment that they endure; and what happens to them when they "retire."]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.worldchangecafe.com/2009/03/04/circuses-three-rings-of-abuse-video-and-article/"><em>Click here to view the embedded video.</em></a></p>
<p>-</p>
<p>Although some children dream of running away to join the circus, it is a safe bet that most animals forced to perform in circuses dream of running away from the circus. Colorful pageantry disguises the fact that animals used in circuses are captives who are forced-under threat of punishment-to perform confusing, uncomfortable, repetitious, and often painful acts. Circuses would quickly lose their appeal if more people knew about the cruel methods used to train the animals; the cramped confinement, unacceptable travel conditions, and poor treatment that they endure; and what happens to them when they &#8220;retire.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>A Life Far Removed From Home</strong></p>
<p><strong><br />
</strong>On its Web site, Ringling Bros. and Barnum &amp; Bailey Circus boasts that it &#8220;criss-cross[es] the country 11 months out of the year, logging more than 25,000 miles.&#8221;(1) Because circuses are constantly traveling from city to city, animals&#8217; access to basic necessities such as food, water, and veterinary care is often inadequate. The animals, most of whom are quite large and naturally active, are forced to spend most of their lives in the cramped, barren cages used to transport them, where they have only enough room to stand and turn around. Most animals are allowed out of their cages only during the short periods when they must perform. Elephants are kept in leg shackles that only allow them to lift one foot at a time. The minimum requirements of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) are routinely ignored.<br />
 <br />
The temperature extremes that animals are subjected to during their travels with the circus cause misery and sometimes death. A young lion named Clyde died in a sweltering boxcar as a Ringling Bros. train crossed the Mojave Desert on a day when temperatures exceeded 100°F. Clyde&#8217;s caretaker told the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that his supervisors refused to stop the train, even when he warned them that the lions were in danger.(2) The Suarez Bros. Circus kept polar bears in hot, humid Puerto Rico in 8-foot-by-7-foot cages without air-conditioning or a regular chance to swim before U.S. officials finally ordered that the bears be confiscated and sent to a more suitable climate.(3)</p>
<p>Veterinarians qualified to treat exotic animals usually aren&#8217;t present or available at circuses, and many animals have suffered and died as a result of a lack of proper medical attention. Ricardo, an 8-month-old baby elephant, was killed in 2004 after suffering severe and irreparable fractures to both hind legs when he fell off a circus pedestal at Ringling&#8217;s breeding and training compound in Florida. As an undersized calf born to a young mother who was unable to nurse him, Ricardo likely suffered from malnutrition, and fragile bones may have contributed to his fatal fall from a dangerously high platform.(4) An African elephant named Kenya who was performing with the Australia-based Sydney Circus suffered a fatal heart attack when he was &#8220;hassled by dogs&#8221; according to accounts reported in <em>The Belfast Telegraph</em>.(5)<br />
 <br />
<strong>Unnatural Environments, Unnatural Behaviors</strong><br />
The lives of baboons, chimpanzees, and other primates used in circuses are a far cry from those of their wild relatives, who live in large, close-knit communities and travel together for miles each day across forests, savannahs, and hills. Primates are highly social, intelligent, and caring animals who suffer when deprived of companionship. Like all animals used in entertainment, primates do not perform unless they are forced to-often through beatings and solitary confinement. After watching video footage of baboons in a traveling circus called Baboon Lagoon, Dr. Robert Sapolsky, a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research in Kenya, said, &#8220;[T]raining most baboons to do tricks of the sort displayed is not trivial &#8230; it is highly likely that it required considerable amounts of punishment and intimidation.&#8221;(6)<br />
 <br />
During the off-season, animals used in circuses may be housed in traveling crates or barn stalls; some are even kept in trucks. Such unrelieved physical confinement has harmful physical and psychological effects on animals. These effects are often indicated by unnatural behaviors such as repeated head-bobbing, swaying, and pacing.(7) A study of circuses conducted by Animal Defenders International in the United Kingdom &#8220;found abnormal behaviors of this kind in all of the species observed.&#8221; Investigators witnessed elephants who were chained for 70 percent of the day, horses who were confined for 23 hours per day, and large cats who were kept in cages up to 99 percent of the time.(8)</p>
<p>The tricks that animals are forced to perform-such as bears&#8217; balancing on balls, apes&#8217; riding motorcycles, and elephants&#8217; standing on two legs-are physically uncomfortable and behaviorally unnatural. The whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks, and other tools used during circus acts are reminders that the animals are being forced to perform. These &#8220;performances&#8221; teach audiences nothing about how animals behave under normal circumstances.</p>
<p><strong>Beaten Into Submission</strong></p>
<p><strong><br />
</strong>Physical punishment has always been the standard training method for animals in circuses. Animals are beaten, shocked, and whipped to make them perform-over and over again-tricks that make no sense to them. The AWA does not prohibit the use of bullhooks, whips, electrical shock prods, or other devices used by circus trainers. Trainers drug some animals to make them &#8220;manageable&#8221; and surgically remove the teeth and claws from others. <br />
 <br />
Video footage shot during a PETA undercover investigation of Carson &amp; Barnes Circus revealed Carson &amp; Barnes&#8217; animal care director, Tim Frisco, viciously attacking, yelling, and cursing at and shocking endangered Asian elephants. Frisco instructed other elephant trainers to beat the elephants with a bullhook as hard as they could and to sink the sharp metal bullhook into the animals&#8217; flesh and twist it until they screamed in pain. The videotape also showed a handler using a blowtorch to remove elephants&#8217; hair and chained elephants and caged bears exhibiting stereotypic behaviors caused by mental distress.</p>
<p>Clyde Beatty-Cole circus has been cited repeatedly by the USDA for animal welfare violations. According to congressional testimony provided by former Beatty-Cole elephant keeper Tom Rider, &#8220;[I]n White Plains, N.Y., when Pete did not perform her act properly, she was taken to the tent and laid down, and five trainers beat her with bullhooks.&#8221; Rider also told officials that &#8220;[a]fter my three years working with elephants in the circus, I can tell you that they live in confinement and they are beaten all the time when they don&#8217;t perform properly.&#8221;(9)</p>
<p>Archele Hundley was an animal trainer with Ringling Bros. and Barnum &amp; Bailey Circus. She says she worked with the company for three months and quit after she allegedly saw a handler ram a bullhook into an elephant&#8217;s ear for refusing to lie down. Ringling Bros. &#8220;believes that if they can keep these animals afraid, they can keep them submissive,&#8221; Hundley said. &#8220;This is how they train their employees to handle these animals.&#8221;(10)</p>
<p><strong>Animals Rebel</strong></p>
<p><strong><br />
</strong>These intelligent captives sometimes snap under the pressure of constant abuse; others make their feelings abundantly clear when they get a chance. Flora, an elephant who had been forced to perform in a circus and was later moved to the Miami Zoo, attacked and severely injured a zookeeper in front of visitors.(11) As Florida police officer Blaine Doyle-who shot 47 rounds into Janet, an elephant who ran amok with three children on her back at the Great American Circus in Palm Bay-noted, &#8220;I think these elephants are trying to tell us that zoos and circuses are not what God created them for &#8230; but we have not been listening.&#8221;(12)</p>
<p><strong>What You Can Do</strong><br />
As more people become aware of the cruelty involved in forcing animals to perform, circuses that use animals are finding fewer places to set up their big tops. The use of animals in entertainment has already been restricted or banned in several U.S. localities-including South Carolina and Orange County and Pasadena, California-as well as in cities around the world, like New Delhi, Belfast, and Rio de Janeiro. The council of the Chester-le-Street district in the U.K. banned events in which animals perform, calling them &#8220;a relic of a bygone era.&#8221;(13)</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t patronize circuses that use animals. PETA can provide literature to pass out to patrons if the circus comes to your town. Find out about state and local animal protection laws, and report any suspected violations to authorities. Contact PETA for information on ways to get an animal-display ban passed in your area.</p>
<p>Take your family to see only animal-free circuses, such as Cirque du Soleil or the Pickle Family Circus.</p>
<p><strong>References</strong></p>
<p><strong><br />
</strong>1) Ringling Bros. and Barnum &amp; Bailey, &#8220;Always on the Move, It&#8217;s The Town Without a ZIP Code!&#8221; Feld Entertainment, Inc., 2006.<br />
2) Marc Kaufman, &#8220;USDA Investigates Death of Circus Lion; Activists Challenge Ringling Bros.&#8217; Account, Say They Notified Federal Officials,&#8221; <em>The Washington Post</em> 8 Aug. 2004.<br />
3) Howie Paul Hartnett, &#8220;2 of 3 Polar Bears Make It to N.C.,&#8221; <em>Charlotte Observer</em> 20 Nov. 2002.<br />
4) Marc Kaufman, &#8220;USDA Investigates Death of Circus Lion,&#8221; <em>The Washington Post</em> 8 Aug. 2004.<br />
5) Victoria O&#8217;Hara, &#8220;Circus Elephant Died After Being ‘Hassled by Dogs,&#8217;&#8221; <em>The Belfast Telegraph</em> 7 Aug. 2007.<br />
6) Robert Sapolsky, letter to PETA, Jun. 2004.<br />
7) Randi Hutter Epstein, &#8220;Circus Life Drives Animals Insane, Two British Rights Groups Contend,&#8221; Associated Press, 24 Aug. 1993.<br />
 <img src='http://www.worldchangecafe.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif' alt='8)' class='wp-smiley' /> Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips, &#8220;The Ugliest Show on Earth,&#8221; Animal Defenders, Ltd., last accessed 22 Nov. 2004.<br />
9) Testimony of Tom Rider, legislative hearing on H.R.2929, 13 Jun. 2000.<br />
10) Ira Cantor, &#8220;Bill Would Outlaw Hooks Used on Elephants,&#8221; <em>Milford Daily News</em> 17 Oct. 2007.<br />
11) NBC 6 News Team, &#8220;Elephant Who Attacked Handler Was Circus Star,&#8221; NBC6.net, 17 Dec. 2002.<br />
12) Louis Sahagun, &#8220;Elephants Pose Giant Dangers,&#8221; <em>Los Angeles Times</em> 11 Oct. 1994.<br />
13) &#8220;Circuses Face New Ban,&#8221; <em>The Journal</em> 27 Nov. 2000.</p>
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		<title>Rodeo: Cruelty for a Buck (video and article)</title>
		<link>http://www.worldchangecafe.com/2008/10/19/rodeo-cruelty-for-a-buck-video-and-article/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:12:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Animal Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animals In Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animal Abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bareback Horse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barrel Racing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bucking Straps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bull Riding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Calf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Calf Roping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Calves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cowboys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Domination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electroc Prods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Horse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hotshot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rodeo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rodeos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saddle Bronc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spurs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steer Roping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steer Wrestling]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Rodeos are promoted as rough-and-tough exercises of human skill and courage in conquering the fierce, untamed beasts of the Wild West. In reality, rodeos are nothing more than manipulative displays of human domination over animals, thinly disguised as entertainment. What began in the 1800s as a skill contest among cowboys has become a show motivated by greed and big profits.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XZxL7umkbRo&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0&#038;border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XZxL7umkbRo&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0&#038;border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="349"></embed></object></p>
<p>Rodeos are promoted as rough-and-tough exercises of human skill and courage in conquering the fierce, untamed beasts of the Wild West. In reality, rodeos are nothing more than manipulative displays of human domination over animals, thinly disguised as entertainment. What began in the 1800s as a skill contest among cowboys has become a show motivated by greed and big profits.(1)</p>
<p><strong>The Stunts</strong></p>
<p>Standard rodeo events include calf roping, steer wrestling, bareback horse and bull riding, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, steer roping, and barrel racing.(2) The animals used in rodeos are captive performers. Most are relatively tame but understandably distrustful of humans because of the harsh treatment that they have received. Many of these animals are not aggressive by nature; they are physically provoked into displaying &#8220;wild&#8221; behavior in order to make the cowboys look brave.</p>
<p><strong>Tools of Torment</strong></p>
<p>Electric prods, spurs, and bucking straps are used to irritate and enrage animals used in rodeos. The flank, or &#8220;bucking,&#8221; strap or rope-which is used to make horses and bulls buck-is tightly cinched around their abdomens, which causes the animals to &#8220;buck vigorously to try to rid themselves of the torment.&#8221;(3) The irritation causes the animals to buck violently, which is what the rodeo promoters want them to do in order to put on a good show for the crowds. The flank strap, when paired with spurring, causes the animals to buck even more violently, often resulting in serious injuries.(4) Former animal control officers have found burrs and other irritants placed under the flank strap.(5) In addition, the flank strap can cause open wounds and burns when the hair is rubbed off and the skin is chafed raw.(6)</p>
<p>Cows and horses are often prodded with an electrical &#8220;hotshot&#8221; while in the chute to rile them, causing intense pain to the animals. Peggy Larson, D.V.M.-a veterinarian who in her youth was a bareback bronc rider-said, &#8220;Bovines are more susceptible to electrical current than other animals. Perhaps because they have a huge ‘electrolyte&#8217; vat, the rumen [one of their stomachs].&#8221;(7)</p>
<p><strong>The End of the Trail</strong></p>
<p>The late Dr. C.G. Haber, a veterinarian who spent 30 years as a federal meat inspector, worked in slaughterhouses and saw many animals discarded from rodeos and sold for slaughter. He described the animals as being so extensively bruised that the only areas in which their skin was attached to their flesh were the head, neck, legs, and belly. He described seeing animals &#8220;with 6-8 ribs broken from the spine, and at times puncturing the lungs.&#8221; Haber saw animals with &#8220;as much as 2-3 gallons of free blood accumulated under the detached skin.&#8221;(8) These injuries are a result of animals&#8217; being thrown in calf-roping events or being jumped on by people from the backs of horses during steer wrestling.</p>
<p><strong>Injuries and Deaths</strong></p>
<p>Although rodeo cowboys voluntarily risk injury by participating in events, the animals they use have no such choice. Because speed is a factor in many rodeo events, the risk of accidents is high.</p>
<p>A terrified, screaming young horse burst from the chutes at the Can-Am Rodeo and, within five seconds, slammed into a fence and broke her neck. Bystanders knew that she was dead when they heard her neck crack, yet the announcer told the crowd that everything would &#8220;be all right&#8221; because a vet would see her.(9)</p>
<p>Incidents such as this are not uncommon at rodeos. By the end of one of the annual, nine-day Calgary Stampedes in Alberta, Canada, six animals were dead, including a horse who died of an aneurism and another who suffered a broken leg and had to be euthanized.(10) The following year, at the same event, six more animals died: five horses in the chuckwagon competition and a calf in the roping event.(11) In 2005, fear caused a stampede as horses destined for the Stampede were being herded across a bridge; some jumped and others were pushed into the river. Nine horses died.(12)</p>
<p>The Omak Stampede is an annual event in Washington that features the Wild Horse Race, in which tethered wild horses are released into the arena while cowboys try to mount and ride them (one horse died in 2005). The event culminates with the Suicide Race, in which horses are ridden at furious speeds down a steep hill and into the grandstand. That event killed three horses in 2004; 19 horses have lost their lives to the race in the past 20 years.(13)</p>
<p>During the National Western Stock Show, a horse crashed into a wall and broke his neck, and another horse broke his back after being forced to buck.(14) Dr. Cordell Leif told the <em>Denver Post</em>, &#8220;Bucking horses often develop back problems from the repeated poundings they take from the cowboys. There&#8217;s also a real leg injury where a tendon breaks down. Horses don&#8217;t normally jump up and down.&#8221;(15)</p>
<p>Calves roped while running routinely have their necks snapped back by the lasso, often resulting in neck injuries.(16) Even Bud Kerby, owner and operator of Bar T Rodeos Inc., agrees that calf roping is inhumane. He told the <em>St. George Spectrum</em> that he &#8220;wouldn&#8217;t mind seeing calf roping phased out.&#8221;(17) During Rodeo Houston, a bull suffered from a broken neck for a full 15 minutes before he was euthanized following a steer-wrestling competition, which was described by a local newspaper as an event in which &#8220;cowboys violently twist the heads of steers weighing about 500 pounds to bring them to the ground.&#8221;(18)</p>
<p>Rodeo association rules are not effective in preventing injuries and are not strictly enforced, and penalties are not severe enough to deter abusive treatment. For example, one rule states that &#8220;if a member abuses an animal by any unnecessary, non-competitive or competitive action, he may be disqualified for the remainder of the rodeo and fined $250 for the first offense, with that fine progressively doubling with each offense thereafter.&#8221; These are small fines in comparison to the large purses that are at stake. Rules allow the animals to be confined or transported in vehicles for up to 24 hours without being properly fed, watered, or unloaded.(19)</p>
<p><strong>Spurn the Spurs</strong></p>
<p>If a rodeo comes to your town, protest to local authorities, write letters to sponsors, leaflet at the gate, or hold a demonstration. Contact PETA for posters and fliers.</p>
<p>Check state and local laws to find out what types of activities involving animals are and are not legal in your area. For example, after a spectator videotaped a bull breaking his leg during a rodeo event, a Pittsburgh law prohibiting bucking straps, electric prods, and sharpened or fixed spurs in effect banned rodeos altogether, since most rodeos currently touring the country use the flank straps that are prohibited by the law.(20)</p>
<p>Another successful means of banning rodeos is to institute a state or local ban on calf roping, the event in which cruelty is most easily documented. Since many rodeo circuits require calf roping, eliminating it can result in the overall elimination of rodeo shows.</p>
<p><strong>References</strong></p>
<p><strong><br />
</strong>1) Ronda Quaid, &#8220;A Tip of the Hat to the Vaqueros,&#8221; <em>Coastline</em> 1996.<br />
2) Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, &#8220;The Sport,&#8221; 2002.<br />
3) Hattie Klotz, &#8220;Bucking Bronco Dies in Corel Center Rodeo,&#8221; <em>The Ottawa Citizen</em> 9 Aug. 1999.<br />
4) Dr. Peggy Larson, D.V.M., M.S., J.D., e-mail to PETA, 15 Nov. 2001.<br />
5) Ingrid Newkirk, former animal control officer, eyewitness account.<br />
6) Chris Heidenrich, &#8220;Animal-Rights Group Protests Rodeo,&#8221; <em>Daily Herald</em> 17 Jul. 1998.<br />
7) Larson.<br />
 <img src='http://www.worldchangecafe.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif' alt='8)' class='wp-smiley' /> The Humane Society of the United States, interview with C.G. Haber, D.V.M., Rossburg, Ohio, 1979.<br />
9) Klotz.<br />
10) &#8220;Another Horse Dies at Stampede,&#8221; <em>CFCNplus.ca</em> (CFCN-CTV), 13 Jul. 2001.<br />
11) &#8220;Stampede Animal Deaths Worry Humane Society,&#8221; <em>CBC News Online</em> 15 Jul. 2002.<br />
12)  &#8221;Deadly Accidents at the Calgary Stampede,&#8221; <em>CBC News Online</em> 4 Jul. 2005. 13) &#8220;No Fatalities in Omak Stampede Suicide Race; One Horse Dies at Rodeo Event,&#8221; Associated Press, 16 Aug. 2005.<br />
14) Renate Robey, &#8220;Horse Euthanized After Show Accident,&#8221; <em>Denver Post</em> 16 Jan. 1999.<br />
15) Steve Lipsher, &#8220;Veterinarian Calls Rodeos Brutal to Stock,&#8221; <em>Denver Post</em> 20 Jan. 1991.<br />
16) Lipsher.<br />
17) Patrice St. Germain, &#8220;PETA: Rodeo Cruel to Animals; Rodeo Fans Say Animals Treated Well,&#8221; <em>St. George Spectrum</em> 15 Sep. 2001.<br />
18) &#8220;Steer Suffers Broken Neck During Top Wrestling Run,&#8221; <em>Houston Chronicle</em> 17 Mar. 2006.<br />
19) Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, &#8220;PRCA Animal Welfare Rules,&#8221; ProRodeo.com, 2003.<br />
20) Timothy McNulty, &#8220;City Council Prodded to Ease Rules and Bring Back Rodeos,&#8221; <em>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</em> 18 Jun. 2002.</p>
<p>Article reprinted from <a href="http://www.peta.org/">People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals</a> (PeTA)</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Video provided by <a href="http://www.sharkonline.org/"><font color="#0000ff">Showing Animals Respect and Kindness</font></a> (SHARK)</span></p>
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		<title>Dogfighting: Dogs Tortured in Illegal Blood &#8216;Sport&#8217; (Video and Article)</title>
		<link>http://www.worldchangecafe.com/2008/04/25/dogfighting-dogs-tortured-in-illegal-blood-sport-video-and-article/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:31:58 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Staffordshire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Streetfignting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terriers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tortured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Treatment]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Dogfighting—a blood “sport” in which two dogs are pitted against each other in a fighting pit and forced to rip each other to shreds in a fight to the death for the “amusement” and monetary gain of onlooking gamblers—is illegal in the United States and is a felony in every state except Idaho and Wyoming.(1) Experts estimate that tens of thousands of people are involved in professional dogfighting, while an additional 100,000 may be participating in so-called “streetfighting” or informal dogfights.(]]></description>
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<p><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Dogfighting—a blood “sport” in which two dogs are pitted against each other in a fighting pit and forced to rip each other to shreds in a fight to the death for the “amusement” and monetary gain of onlooking gamblers—is illegal in the United States and is a felony in every state except Idaho and Wyoming.(1) Experts estimate that tens of thousands of people are involved in professional dogfighting, while an additional 100,000 may be participating in so-called “streetfighting” or informal dogfights.(2)</span><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> </span><strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Forced to Fight and Left to Die<br />
</span></strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"><br />
The most commonly bred dogs for fighting are Staffordshire terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, American bulldogs, and American pit bull terriers. All of them are usually referred to as pit bulls. Dogs are highly social pack animals who need and deserve love, attention, and exercise and thrive in an environment that offers the companionship of other dogs and human guardians. Dogs who are used for fighting are chained, taunted, and starved in order to trigger extreme survival instincts and encourage aggressiveness.</span><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Typically, before their first birthdays, puppies bred for fighting are placed in front of other dogs in order to test their aggression. At around 15 months, two prospective “fighters” are forced to participate in a “roll”—their first fight, which lasts about 10 minutes—followed by a second fight that lasts an hour. Survivors are chained again (sometimes with weighted logging chains) for a couple of months until they are ready for their first “show.” Breeders “train” dogs by forcing them to tread water in pools; run on a treadmill while a cat or another terrified animal, who may be someone’s stolen companion animal, is placed in a cage in front of the dog (to be caught and mauled to death as a reward afterward); and hang on with their jaws while dangling from a chain baited with meat.(3,4) The dogs are likely injected with steroids, and some breeders go so far as to sharpen their dogs’ teeth, cut off their ears (in order to prevent another dog from latching on), and add roach poison to their food so that their fur might taste bad to other dogs.(5,6)</span></p>
<p>Dogs that “win” fights are forced to fight again and again and are bred to produce profit-making puppies. One breeder who was claimed to be a particularly successful fighting dog earned $100,000 in stud fees in a single year.(7) “Rape stands,” which are routinely confiscated from large-scale dogfighting operations, are contraptions used by breeders to strap down resistant female dogs so that males can impregnate them. Dogs that do not fight or lose fights may be used as “bait” animals or may be abandoned, tortured, set on fire, electrocuted, shot, drowned, or beaten to death.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">What Happens at Dogfights</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> </span></strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">A dogfight could be a street fight, which lasts only a few minutes and takes place in an alley or a back yard, or it could fall under one of two levels of organized fights: hobbyist and professional.(8) Organized fights tend to be highly secretive, with word spreading by mouth or via the Internet. Participants may meet in one place and be taken en masse to another location so that even they don’t know where they’re going until they arrive.  Abandoned houses, garages, warehouses, and fields all serve as sites for dogfights—places that can be easily scouted by lookouts and quickly evacuated in advance of a raid.(9)</span><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">A “pit” consists of a dirt or carpeted floor that is anywhere from 8 to 16 square feet and is surrounded by a wooden—and often portable—enclosure that is about 3 feet high. Dogs are taken to either end of the ring and released at the “face your dogs” command. Break or parting sticks are used to pry apart fighting dogs, who clamp down so fiercely that it is not uncommon for dogs to “fang” themselves (i.e., bite through their own lips).(10) The fight could go on for hours—until one dog is seriously injured or dies or, “[s]hould the police interfere, the referee … name[s] the next meeting place,” according to rules posted on a breeder’s Web site.(11)</span></p>
<p>Dogs are ranked by their “gameness”—the ability to keep fighting even when pain and loss of blood have caused their bodies to go into shock.(12) A federal prosecutor recalls a case in which one of 18 dogs found in a raid had 70 open wounds and was missing half a jaw while another dog’s body was 75 percent covered in scar tissue.(13) A Louisiana state police officer who conducts dogfighting investigations says, “When you go to where these fights have happened, you’ll find a couple of dog corpses or a pit full of blood.”(14)</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">The Tip of a Criminal Iceberg</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Dogfighting usually involves other crimes in addition to cruelty to animals. One infamous breeder planted “directional mines” on his property in an attempt to keep people away; a land surveyor was injured when one of these devices exploded.(15)Gambling—which is frequently illegal and often involves large sums of money—is found at many dogfights, as are firearms and other weapons that are sometimes used in violent crimes, including murder, as occurred at a Texas home when three intruders bound the wife and children of a well-known pit bull breeder and killed him for the $100,000 that he had won at a fight.(16) A detective told the </span></span></strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">New York Daily News</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> that “you can get more drugs and guns off the street by breaking up dog rings than you would breaking up drug rings.”(17) An Ohio sheriff says that “just about every dogfighting search warrant we’ve done, we’ve found drugs.”(18)</span><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">A review of Chicago dogfighting incidents over a three-year span found that in the nearly 400 cases, more than half the dog owners had gang affiliations and almost all had been arrested at least two times.(19)</span></p>
<p>Young children are sometimes present at dogfights; Baltimore’s Health Department lists dogfighting as a child welfare issue on its Web site and cautions parents that “[c]hildren are exposed to exhibits of extreme brutality, illegal gambling, drugs, and guns associated with these cruel events.”(20)</p>
<p>These tortured dogs do not make good companions, as breeders commonly mate close relatives together in an effort to pass on the traits of dogs that are especially aggressive and whose instincts and training motivate them to kill other animals. “We’re sitting on a powder keg,” says one Ohio dog warden.(21)</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">What You Can Do</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Federal law bans interstate commerce import and export of fighting dogs, and the penalty is three years in jail with a $250,000 fine.(22) But as a Texas sheriff remarked, “If you don’t know it’s going on, there’s not a whole lot you can do. It’s organized crime.” Officials often stumble across dogfighting operations accidentally while searching property for other reasons. For instance, in 2007, authorities were searching Michael Vick’s property in rural Virginia for suspected drug activity when they discovered dogs who were tied to car axles with logging chains as well as dogfighting equipment, including treadmills, chains, whips, and injectable drugs.(23)Dogs raised for fighting are usually chained (or “tethered”), which is a safety hazard for the dogs and the community. A study published in </span></span></strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Pediatrics</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> magazine reported that “[b]iting dogs were significantly more likely … to be chained” and nearly three times as likely to attack than dogs who were not tethered.(24) While many cities and counties have addressed this cruel and dangerous practice in an effort to prevent tragedies from striking near home, others consider such legislation only after chained dogs maul children in their areas. For more information on how you can get your community to enact an ordinance that bans or at least restricts tethering, please visit <a href="http://www.helpinganimals.com/"><span style="color: #cc3333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">HelpingAnimals.com</span></a>.</span><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">If you suspect that dogfighting is happening in your neighborhood, contact local law enforcement authorities.</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">References</span></strong><strong> </strong><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">1) CNN.com, “Dogfighting a Booming Business, Experts Say,” 18 Jul. 2007.<br />
2) CNN.com.<br />
3) Bill Burke, “Bloodsport. Dogfighting Once Had a Following Limited to the Rural South. But in the Age of the Internet, This Violent, Illegal Activity Has Seen a Cultural Shift,” </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">The Virginian-Pilot</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> 17 Jun. 2007.<br />
4) Julian Walker and Tom Campbell, “The Growth of Dogfighting,” </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">The Richmond Times-Dispatch</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> 3 Jul. 2007.<br />
5) Burke.<br />
6) Childs Walker, “Dogfight ‘Culture’ Reaches to Baltimore; Officials Link Bloody Pastime With Drugs, Gun Dealing, Gangs,” </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">The Baltimore Sun</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> 1 Jun. 2007.<br />
7) Burke.<br />
 <img src='http://www.worldchangecafe.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif' alt='8)' class='wp-smiley' /> Walker and Campbell.<br />
9) Renée C. Lee, “Dogfight Culture Thrives on Secrecy: Lack of Police Training Hinders Enforcement, Animal Welfare Experts Contend,” </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">The Houston Chronicle</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> 4 Sept 2007.<br />
10) Drew Jubera, “Dogfighting: A Shadow World of Bloodlust,” </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> 20 Jul. 2007.<br />
11) G.A. Trahan, “<a href="http://www.yuarena.co.yu/balkanboys/cajun.htm"><span style="color: #cc3333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">American Pit Bull Terrier ‘Cajun Rules</span></a>,’” Balkan Boys’ Kennels, 25 Jun. 2007.<br />
12) Associated Press, “Vick Case Latest Stain on Pit Bull’s Changing Image,” 25 Jul. 2007.<br />
13) Tom Weir, “Vick Case Sheds Light on Dark World of Dogfighting,” </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">USA Today</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> 7 Jul. 2007.<br />
14) Weir.<br />
15) Burke.<br />
16) Lee.<br />
17) Lisa Olson, “Dogfighting World Is Inhumane Society,” </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">New York Daily News</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> 19 Jul. 2007.<br />
18) Mark Gillispie, “Brutal Underground Sport Comes to Light; Secrets of the Dogfighting World Unleashed as Federal Officials Look at Case of NFL’s Vick,” </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Plain Dealer </span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">10 Jun. 2007.<br />
19) Walker.<br />
20) Baltimore City Health Department, “<a href="http://www.baltimorehealth.org/animalcontrol.html"><span style="color: #cc3333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Dog Fighting: Why You Should Care</span></a>,” 25 Jul. 2007.<br />
21) Gillispie.<br />
22) CNN.com.<br />
23) WAVY-TV 10, “<a href="http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=6428206"><span style="color: #cc3333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Vick Claims No Knowledge of Situation on His Property</span></a>,” 28 Apr. 2007.<br />
24) Kenneth A. Gershman </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">et al</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">., “<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/dog3.pdf"><span style="color: #cc3333; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Which Dogs Bite? A Case-Control Study of Risk Factors</span></a>,” </span><em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Pediatrics</span></em><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: #444444; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> 93 (1994): 913-7.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br />
Article from <a title="People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" href="http://www.peta.org" target="_blank">People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals</a>.</span></p>
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