127 Pit Bulls, Incl. 60 Puppies, Ordered Killed, with Welfare Group's Support
Published February 17, 2009 @ 09:26AM PT
Photo: Best Friends Animal Society
Just last night, I sat around a table with fellow animal activists from St. Louis as well as a visiting L.A.-based activist, and three of us chatted over dinner about the pit bulls we had at home, dogs who are bursting with love and affection for us; our conversation even included acknowledgment of possible aggression issues and the conscious precautions we take and the behaviors we watch out for, just to be safe. But mostly, we talked about how much we love them, about what great dogs they are.
This morning, I opened my Google Reader, and my stomach sank. The Animal Law blog had earlier this morning reported, "Judge orders that pit bulls be destroyed."
-Read on after the jump-
Despite the undisputed successful example of rescuing and rehabilitating Michael Vick's fighting dogs last year, a North Carolina judge yesterday ordered that more than 127 pit bulls seized in December from a fighting ring be destroyed.
"Those dogs are going to be killed solely because of prejudice," said Ledy VanKavage, an attorney for Best Friends Animal Society, which had offered to pay to have the dogs evaluated and to spay or neuter the adoptable dogs.
What isn't mentioned in this brief intro from Animal Law is the subtitle to the article, which includes the following: "Humane Society, others back the court's decision." Yes, that's right. The same group that garnered attention (and quite possibly donations) for rescuing the dogs officially recommended that all 127, 60 of them puppies, be killed--no individual assessments, no consideration of the likelihood that many of them could be rehabilitated. Just cheap, fast death. For all of them. It's the same recommendation that both the Humane Society of the United States and PETA made in the case of Michael Vick's dogs.
[Judge] Wilson ordered the dogs destroyed yesterday after hearing from a prosecutor, the attorney for Wilkes County government, Wilkes County's animal-control director and two representatives from The Humane Society of the U.S., who all called for the dogs be euthanized.
But as Amy of Animal Law noted, not every animal welfare group jumps on the kill-'em bandwagon in these cases. Best Friends Animal Society fought for the lives of the Vick dogs and proceeded to work wonders with them in a successful, widely publicized rehabilitation process. And again in this case, Best Friends tried to save the dogs. They even offered to pay for the assessments and the spaying and neutering of the adoptable dogs and to work with other rescue groups on the placement of the dogs. And with Best Friends and other rescue organizations having helped as many adult, longtime fighting dogs as they have, why couldn't we have given them a chance to at least perform individual assessments, especially where the puppies were concerned? And yes, I write this all in the past tense for a reason. The dogs likely are already dead. They could be dying as I type this:
The case had been set for trial next month. People working on rescuing the dogs thought they had more time.
VanKavage said that when she learned about yesterday's ruling she called Wilkesboro attorney William Burke to seek an injunction against destroying the dogs. She said Burke reported that when he got to the courthouse shortly before it closed, the judge was gone and the order was already signed. She said that Burke told her he thought the dogs would be dead before he could get the request before the judge.
It was unclear last night if the dogs had already been destroyed.
VanKavage said that [Assistant District Attorney] Bauer misrepresented her side's interest to the judge and it affected the proceeding.
"I think the judge wanted to hear our side of it and if we'd gotten some notice, we could have gotten into that courtroom, but the DA's office chose to stonewall us and because of that, these puppies died," she said.
And I wonder--is it just the 127 who are being (or have been) killed? Or have the couple dozen puppies who have been born into the group since the raid (the article reports that court officials yesterday put the then-current count at around 150 dogs) been condemned to death too, just because they were born to fighting dogs?
When HSUS championed its role in the rescue of the dogs from the fighting operation, the post ended with a reminder that they can "locate and eliminate animal abuse in all of its many manifestations" only if you provide them with "resources" (i.e., money). But I for one put the killing of 127 dogs, including 60 puppies, without so much as considering that many of them could be rehabilitated, into--not outside of--the abuse category. In this post referring to HSUS's own work as "remarkable" and "extraordinary," and including descriptions of rescues other than the dogfighting instance, its CEO remarked, "All cases involved long-term investigations, meticulous planning, coordination with law enforcement, scripted raids to stop or prevent animal abuse, MASH unit treatment of animals on site, transportation of animal victims, and, in some cases, the development of plans for long-term care or adoption."
That "in some cases" part? That's there because of the pit bulls (and likely the roosters taken from a cockfighting operation too)--because the moment the organization removed those dogs from the dogfighting operation, it did so knowing it would advocate for their deaths. The positions of HSUS, PETA, and others is that dogs who have been forced into fighting are beyond rehabilitation and that attempted rehabilitation is a misappropriation of resources when there are so many other animals in need. But it has been shown that many of these dogs can be rehabilitated, so why don't they deserve a chance as much as other dogs do? Why don't we want to fight harder to give happy lives to those who can be rehabilitated and adopted, to try to make up for the hell humans put them through, instead of deciding arbitrarily that all of them should die?
And let's remember that in the case of the Vick dogs, not nearly all of them even had to go to Best Friends for that more serious rehabilitation--25 of them, after careful assessment, went straight into loving, experienced foster homes.
Photo: Vick dog Uba, from Bad Rap's Vick Dog Blog
So I guess this boils down to what our concerns and goals really are: Are we comfortable with just stopping the dogfighting itself and imprisoning (or fining) the humans involved and with automatically condemning all the dogs to death outright because surely none of them are "worth" the time and money for assessment and rehabilitation? Or do we want to put the dogfighters out of business and into prison and save the dogs, really save the dogs?
At least 127 dogs. At least 60 puppies. Abused by the humans who were supposed to care for them. Killed by the humans who were supposed to save them.
---
See the following for stories of dogs (and roosters) who have been and are being rehabilitated.
- Meet the Rescued Michael Vick Pit Bull Dogs Now (narrated slideshow from Bad Rap; begins with image below)
- Vick's Dogs: The Good News Out of the Bad Newz Kennels (Sports Illustrated)
- The Vicktory Dogs (Best Friends)
- Pit Bulls--The Real Story (Best Friends)
- mid-winter blues: all the good news, on (quickly!) rehabilitated fighting roosters, and heartbreak, 39-8=31, on the rescue of those roosters (Invisible Voices)
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And On and On the Pit Bull Conversation Goes
Comments (18)
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Author
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Stephanie is an independent animal rights advocate, a vegan, a tree-hugging environmentalist, and a freelance editor and writer. She lives in St. Louis with an aging corgi-lab and an adolescent rescued pit bull.
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This is so heartbreaking.
Posted by Nathaniel Whittemore on 02/17/2009 @ 10:03AM PT
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Evil is doing a brisk trade in this world.
Posted by Susan Bertolino on 02/17/2009 @ 10:37AM PT
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This is just sick,makes me so ill
Posted by Denise Walling on 02/17/2009 @ 10:56AM PT
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Disappointing outcome, considering the parties involved. Man is a cruel master - I doubt the puppies were a threat to anyone's security
Posted by CHRIS HOOYMANS on 02/17/2009 @ 01:13PM PT
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Stop it somebody somewhere do something don't let this happen!!!
Posted by Kelly Harvin on 02/17/2009 @ 01:22PM PT
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This is an OUTRAGE!!!! Man is to blame not the dogs. How could puppies be apart of this might I ask. Ed Faron previously convicted of dogfighting and is reportedly one of the 10 most influential figures in the underground dogfighting circuit. He is known as a breeder of pit bull bloodlines that have a strong following in the criminal underground of dogfighting nationwide. Faron co-authored a book on how to breed and raise dogs to be used for fighting that contains graphic accounts—supposedly fictional—of gruesome injuries inflicted or suffered by dogs used for fighting (The Complete Gamedog—A Guide to Breeding and Raising the American Pit Bull Terrier). He's the one that should be put down!!!!
Posted by Andrea M on 02/17/2009 @ 02:51PM PT
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Thank YOU for posting about this, Stephanie. It's such a sad, tragic case, and yet another reason why well-meaning animal advocates should direct their donations not to megatheocorporatocractic groups like the HSUS, but to smaller/local/grassroots organizations.
Naturally, these sort of campaigns also make the animal advocacy community look like hypocritical idiots; by murdering the very animals they so publicly saved, the HSUS sends a conflicting message to regular citizens and the news media, to say the least.
Posted by Kelly Garbato on 02/17/2009 @ 03:05PM PT
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You mean after all this time the dogs still havn't been all adopted out yet?!?!?! Send me one!!!!! Michael Vick is a punk-ass and he should be made to watch as they put the dogs down!!
Posted by Derrick Jordan on 02/17/2009 @ 03:05PM PT
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The (American Pit Bull Terrier) was developed and refined into one of the best (all around) breeds of domestic dog in the world right here in America.
After evolving into this magnificent pure breed the people who owned and loved them went to the AKC. to seek registration Unfortunately, because of the darker side of society that used the breed in dog fighting, they were denied. After repeated rejection by the AKC. the UKC. was formed in 1898 for the sole purpose of registering the APBT.
At one time this truly was "America's Dog" and I say it is way past time for us to put and end to the ridiculous persecution of this truly fantastic and loving breed of American Dog.
And that is exactly what I am going to do!! If anyone would like to join me please send me a message. I will be happy to then exchange phone numbers and or e-mails so we can start working together to make much needed CHANGE for the American Pit Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire Terrier, if it's registerd in the AKC.
Aloha and God Bless, Walt Vasco.
Posted by Walt Vasco on 02/17/2009 @ 08:37PM PT
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I don't understand?
If the reason for killing is lack of enough resources.
This guy Michael Vick) has money right? He created this so why doesn't he pay for the rehabilitation? No matter how long or how much it cost it's his burden to remedy...........
Posted by amber lopez on 02/17/2009 @ 10:31PM PT
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Yeah, right... a human spending money to help a bunch of dogs? What planet are you on? People only spend money on themselves.
Posted by Luella - on 02/18/2009 @ 01:40AM PT
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Amber, the dogs in this case were not related in any way to Michael Vick, and dogfighting was (unfortunately) around long before he got into it, so he doesn't bear any direct responsibility for what happened in this instance. He was required to pay restitution to go toward the rehabilitation and care of the dogs taken from his operation, however.
Posted by Stephanie Ernst on 02/18/2009 @ 06:20AM PT
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I just posted an update. Short version: all the dogs have been killed, including the puppies born after the rescue.
Posted by Stephanie Ernst on 02/18/2009 @ 01:31PM PT
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Did you remember to mention that PETA did not suggest that they be put down as you thought they did?
Posted by Walt Vasco on 02/18/2009 @ 10:24PM PT
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Walt, I never wrote that PETA said anything at all about this specific case. I referred to the position that PETA took in the Vick case, not this one.
Posted by Stephanie Ernst on 02/18/2009 @ 10:45PM PT
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OK Stephanie thanks, See my reply on the updated version of this post.
Posted by Walt Vasco on 02/19/2009 @ 05:15PM PT
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This is definitely something you don't see everyday, HSUS/PETA bashing on an animal rights blog. To go somewhat off-topic, I will say that I am an avid opponent of animal rights in all imaginable ways, but I do support animal-welfare. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_welfare)
And no, its not my meat eating that condemns animal rights ideology, its the fact that my pets that I care so very much for are getting stupidly and pointlessly banned left and right then taken away to be euthanized just like above. I don't cause them psychically harm, I feed them, I give them water, I house them, and because of a few idiots who are incapable of following the law I am condemned by extremists who can't even realize that no one benefits from this fight, not me, not you, and definately not all the cuddly animals.
Posted by Hunter S on 02/19/2009 @ 10:03AM PT
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My question is "How hard was the stupid little slap given to the humans who started the dogs on this path?" All those beautiful lives wasted & the monsters who misused them & abused them in this hideous way are still living & breathing!!! When a human misuses a gun (commits murder with it) does the gun get blamed, go to prison? No, the human does! All governments need to hold the monster humans responsible & figure out a way to truly save these beautiful dogs! I can't stop crying.
Posted by Laurie Brewer on 02/22/2009 @ 05:07PM PT
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