Animal Cruelty and Fighting Campaign |
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| ©iStockphoto |
| The HSUS's Animal Cruelty and Fighting Campaign works for a safe world for all animals. |
The HSUS's Animal Cruelty and Fighting Campaign works with the legal system to put animal abusers behind bars and break up organized animal fighting rings. In addition to seeking stronger laws and pushing for the enforcement of existing laws, we
- Offer rewards to catch animal fighters and animal abusers;
- Provide investigative and undercover assistance;
- Provide expert testimony for the prosecution; and
- Help to care for animals seized from abuse or fighting cases.
While animal abuse is often hidden behind the scenes, it remains shockingly prevalent, despite the fact that it is illegal everywhere and is a felony in 43 states. Animal fighting—including dogfighting, cockfighting, and hog-dog fighting—is a particularly insidious form of animal cruelty that is on the rise in some parts of the country.
The Faces of the Abused
A growing record of arrests in fighting and cruelty cases and a count of animals rescued from abuse are impressive, but a list of numbers can lose sight of the real animals affected by our work. We present a few of the faces behind some of our recent work:
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| ©The HSUS |
This bird is one of 125 roosters taken from a Mecklenberg, Va., cockfighting bust in January 2007.
Slashed, bleeding and struggling to breathe, some birds were plucked directly from the fighting pit. The HSUS helped state and local officials with an eight-month investigation that led to 145 arrests. |
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| ©Jennifer Kirchner, Forgotten Felines |
Adam is a resilient Sonoma, Calif., kitten who almost died after he was set on fire in July 2007. Two 15-year-old girls were charged with animal cruelty in the case.
The HSUS advised the local prosecutor on the case and offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest. This reward will go to an 11-year-old boy who led police to the girls and rescued the cat. The HSUS also paid $1,000 towards Adam's veterinary care. |
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| ©The HSUS |
When he wasn't in the fighting pit, this dog spent most of his time chained up outside with an empty barrel as shelter. He is one of 31 dogs and puppies rescued during a raid on a dogfighting operation in Bayboro, N.C., in July 2007.
The HSUS joined local officials on a surprise visit to a Pamlico County man who now faces 17 counts of felony dogfighting as well as 17 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges for restraining dogs in a cruel manner. |
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| ©iStockphoto | Porky, Kilo and Gonzo were three pet pigs who were tortured and killed in separate incidents in Hawaii in the last year. Raised to be trusting of people, the pigs had no defense against the assaults that ended their lives. The publicity about their deaths and educational efforts by The HSUS spurred passage of Hawaii's felony animal cruelty law. While too late to help the three pig victims, the new law will cracks down on animal cruelty. |
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| ©The HSUS |
A simultaneous raid on seven kennels in Ohio in March of 2007 yielded dozens of scarred and abused dogs, including this pit bull. The fruit of a year-long investigation, the bust broke up an evening of this "entertainment" before the fights began, saving several dogs from the pain and injury they would have suffered in combat.
Agents arrested 25 participants and spectators, toppling a large dogfighting ring with locations throughout the state. Nine people received federal indictments the Monday after the raid, and 38 more received state felony indictments in June. |
Stemming the Tide
In addition to working on individual cases, The Animal Cruelty and Fighting campaign is devoted to ongoing, long-term projects to stem the tide of animal cruelty. For example,
- In Chicago, The HSUS launched an anti-dogfighting program modeled after the successful "Ceasefire" program being used to combat gang violence across the country. Using "violence interrupters" who live with and understand the forces that draw young men into dogfighting, the Chicago program attempts to provide meaningful alternatives to the violence of dogfighting.
- In 2007, the Animal Cruelty and Fighting campaign partnered with the National Enquirer, the world's largest tabloid publication, to bring animal abuse into the public eye. By spotlighting specific animal cruelty cases, the partnership focuses public attention on pending criminal cases and empowers readers to fight animal abuse in their own communities.
Related Links
Animal Cruelty
Animal Fighting
Dog Eat Dog: The Bloodthirsty Underworld of Dogfighting
Cockfighting
Hog-Dog Fighting
