The Humane Society of Missouri says more than 400 dogs were seized last week as part of what's being called the largest coordinated raid on dogfighting rings in American history. Rescuers say dogs from Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Mississippi were taken from owners who subjected them to unspeakable cruelty. Dogs that didn't fight well enough, they say, were shot, their bodies sometimes burned in barrels or thrown into rivers. Federal and state authorities, in addition to animal rescue groups, participated in the raid.
Many of those arrested in the raids appeared to live seemingly normal lives apart from their alleged ties to the shady world of dogfighting. One man arrested in Texas is a Little League coach; two men arrested in Missouri were a registered nurse and a teacher in a state-run school for the disabled, the Associated Press reported.
"The Humane Society of Missouri provided initial information that led to the investigation. During the course of the investigation they also cared for animals involved when possible, and they are presently designated to provide continuing care for the seized dogs," said Michael Reap, acting U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Missouri.
The Humane Society of Missouri says it is housing most of the seized dogs -- mostly pit bulls -- in a temporary facility to keep them separate from other rescued animals. According to the group, animal behaviorists will evaluate each dog and make recommendations to the U.S. District Court on their chances for rehabilitation.
Sioux City, Iowa, City Councilman Aaron Rochester was instrumental in a successful campaign last year to ban pit bulls within city limits. Among the most damning evidence he presented in support of the ban was animal control department reports showing that pit bulls were the breed most apt to bite people.
Rochester had a bit of egg on his face, then, when his own dog -- a yellow Labrador retriever named Jake -- bit a neighbor and was deemed vicious by the Sioux City animal control department. Rochester maintained that Jake, "a great watchdog," was only trying to protect his young daughter and a friend, who were playing nearby. But the bite required five stitches, and the victim maintained he'd done nothing to provoke the attack.
A city code requires that vicious dogs be euthanized for the public's safety. But Rochester appealed to Sioux City's police captain, Pete Groetken, for clemency.
"I think it will be very difficult for me to reverse a decision by [animal control] unless there was strong evidence that there was a need for the animal to protect the owner's property," Groetken told the Sioux City Journal before making his ruling. The ruling came last week in the form of a certified letter to Rochester: Jake is vicious.
The shoe is on the other foot for a Sioux City, Iowa, city councilman who spearheaded a campaign to ban pit bulls in the city. Despite vocal opposition from defenders of the maligned breed, the ban passed a city council vote last September. (It allows owners to keep pit bulls they currently own, provided they are registered with the city, but prevents future pit bull ownership.)
Now the councilman, Aaron Rochester, is appealing a decision by the Sioux City animal control department branding his own dog -- a yellow Labrador retriever -- as vicious following an attack on a neighbor. The dog, named Jake, will be euthanized if the decision stands.
Sioux City police say Jake attacked a neighbor who was walking on the sidewalk past Rochester's house. The man suffered bite wounds on his thumb, which required five stitches, and scratches as a result. The hospital where he received treatment called police to report the incident, prompting animal control to seize and impound Jake.
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison is hoping his dog, a pit bull named Patron, will be given a second chance after biting his 2-year-old son.
The dog apparently became agitated and bit the boy on the thigh when he started to cry. Also slightly injured were the boy's mother and Harrison's massage therapist, both of whom tried to intervene when the dog attacked. The boy has since been released from a children's hospital and, according to Harrison's agent Bill Parise, is walking and has no muscle or nerve damage as a result of the bite. Both his mother and the massage therapist have recovered (although the massage therapist required several stitches).
Patron was taken to Animal Control of McKees Rocks, where initial reports said that he would be kept under quarantine for 10 days, after which he would be euthanized.
But now Harrison says that he'd like the dog to be spared and "he would love to find a home for him, but only if it was a home that would provide maximum security," Parise told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "This decision is not being made lightly, and it would have to be in the best interest of the welfare of the animal as well as of people."
Patron had never attacked before, Parise said, but finding a rescue organization to take a dog who's attacked even once is proving difficult so far.
His release today is not a surprise -- it's been expected for several months now, since it was announced that the halfway house he was initially slated to move into no longer had space. One element of his release is surprising to many, however: He'll be working with the Humane Society of the United States on its anti-dogfighting campaign. ESPN reports:
[Humane Society President and CEO Wayne Pacelle] said he was approached with the idea of working with the former star quarterback several months ago by Vick's representatives. After meeting with Vick at the federal prison camp, Pacelle said, he decided just within the past week that working with Vick was the right move for the society and its missions.
Specifics are to be determined, but Pacelle made it clear that the expectation on both sides is for Vick to contribute more to the cause than public service announcements. A source close to Vick said he has agreed to be more than a spokesman. Pacelle believes Vick can do the most good in the area the society believes is of greatest need -- urban outreach and prevention.
Is Vick, who not only financed a dogfighting ring but also reportedly "enjoyed placing family pets in the ring with fighting pit bulls and ... laughed as dogs ripped each other apart," really reformed? Is his desire to help the Humane Society simply a public relations move designed to get him reinstated in the NFL?
Disgraced NFL star Michael Vick is scheduled to be released from federal prison soon, and many expect his release to come either overnight or sometime tomorrow.
The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback will return to his five-bedroom, 3,538-square-foot home in Hampton, Va. -- certainly a far cry from his current digs at the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth. ESPN reports on the conditions of his home confinement:
For two months, the suspended NFL star will be largely confined to his home and will wear an electronic monitor that allows federal probation officials to track his movements. He is expected to be released from federal custody July 20.
Vick will be allowed to go to his full-time construction job and will probably be allowed about five hours a week for other court-approved activities, according to Ed Bales, managing director of Federal Prison Consultants, an inmate rehabilitation advocacy group.
Permissible activities for inmates on home confinement typically include medical appointments, religious obligations and meetings with probation officials. No dinners out. No chilling at a friend's house.
Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his role in the operation and financing of the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting ring. He also was suspended from play in the NFL, with Commissioner Roger Goodell writing that Vick's conduct in the dogfighting operation was "not only illegal, but also cruel and reprehensible. Your team, the NFL, and NFL fans have all been hurt by your actions."
Animal control officer Martha Muro, 26, lost part of her thumb yesterday to an attack by a vicious dog while on the job in Bell Gardens. Muro was hospitalized and, as of last night, doctors were evaluating whether the severed thumb section, which was recovered, could be reattached. Our colleague Rich Connell at the L.A. Now blog reports:
Muro, an officer for three years, was making a follow-up visit to a
house on Live Oak Street to ensure that excessive dog feces had been
cleaned up. As she spoke to the owner at the front door, two pit bulls
began lunging at a chain-link gate in a side yard, [Capt. Aaron Reyes of the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority] said.
Muro retreated from the front yard, but the dogs escaped, broke
through a hole in a front gate and a male pit bull attacked. The dog
latched onto Muro’s baton and wrestled her to the ground, Reyes said,
adding, “He was going for her face and neck.”
When the owner approached, Muro was able to break free and a
neighbor summoned help. The male pit bull was turned over by the owner
and euthanized, Reyes said.
Tests are underway to determine possible medical causes for the dog's aggression, including rabies, Reyes said. The second pit bull, a female, was quarantined for observation.
The attack came just days before the start of National Dog Bite Prevention Week, May 17-23. About 4.5 million people in the U.S. are bitten by dogs every year, with about a fifth of those bites being severe enough to require medical attention, according to the California Consumer blog. Those most at risk, according to California Consumer, are children, the elderly and postal service employees (in that order).
It is almost as disgusting and vicious as animal cruelty and torture itself, that someone would get away with claiming 1st Amendment protections for making a living by selling videos of it.
Go ahead, switch on the DVD. Wow, dogs ripping the jaw off a terrified pig -- that's entertainment! (And that's one of the videos this man sold.) Animal cruelty is illegal in every state in this country. It is a crime. To make money off a crime is to compound the crime. That's one of the many good reasons that child pornography is illegal.
So to say these videos can be sold and distributed even though the acts they show are against the law -- you might as well do the same for human ''snuff'' films depicting murders, because that's all that these are. Snuff films of animals. "It isn't murder, your honor -- it's free speech!"
Congress has already outlawed at least some of this reprehensible trade. It passed a law 10 years ago -- a law sponsored by a Simi Valley Republican congressman named Elton Gallegly -- to ban the sale of cruelty videos, like the ones showing women wearing spike heels impaling and crushing small animals to death with their stilettos.
Does the 1st Amendment give people the right to sell or own videos depicting illegal activity? If the activity in question is child pornography, the answer is a resounding no.
But if it depicts animal abuse -- such as dog fighting? That's a matter for the highest court in the land. The Times' David G. Savage explains:
All 50 states have laws against animal cruelty, and a decade ago,
Congress made it illegal to sell or possess photos or videos of animals
being maimed, mutilated, tortured, wounded or killed. The aim was to
combat an underground trade in videos that showed dogs fighting or
mauling other animals.
The law included exceptions for depictions with serious religious, scientific or artistic value.
Last year, however, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia declared
the rarely used law unconstitutional on 1st Amendment grounds. The
judges said the protection for free speech includes depictions of even
illegal activity.
The ruling overturned the conviction of Robert J. Stevens, who was then serving a three-year sentence for selling videos of pit bulls attacking each other and other animals. Government lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court, writing that "depictions of torture and maiming of animals ... have little or no expressive content or redeeming societal value, and Congress has compelling reasons for prohibiting them."
Today, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, which is expected to be argued this fall.
-- Lindsay Barnett
Photo: Dog trainer Ann Alums works with Meryl, a pit bull rescued from Michael Vick's kennel. Credit: Molly Wald / Best Friends Animal Society.
The puppy, an 8-month-old pit bull named Azure, was stabbed between the eyes and in the abdomen, among other places; she underwent surgery at the Alicia Pet Care Center. One of the stab wounds penetrated her liver, but veterinarians think she'll make a full recovery. KTLA reports:
[Twenty-six-year-old Justin Carrafield] pleaded guilty Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court to animal cruelty and cultivating marijuana. A felony charge of possession of a dagger was dismissed as part of a plea bargain. ...
Sheriff's deputies were called to an apartment on La Alameda in Mission Viejo in January on reports of a domestic violence altercation.
Neighbors reported that [Carrafield] had stabbed the dog and gone back into the apartment, threatening to kill himself.
The bleeding dog was found in the parking lot, according to Orange County sheriff's Lt. Steve Bernardi.
Court documents showed Carrafield had a record that included burglaries, thefts and assaults.
-- Lindsay Barnett
Video: Azure shortly after her attack. Credit: Orange County Register
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"...quite simply, BSL has failed to reduce bites/attacks/deaths everywhere it has been enacted. It's knee-jerk, feel good legislation that does not one thing to increase public safety."
