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DMX's Pit Bulls Seized

August 31, 2007

©Marc Joseph: CH Sabotage

The cover of a DMX album shows a pit bull, the breed commonly abused in dogfighting.

On Friday, Aug. 25, sheriff's deputies in Maricopa County, Arizona, raided the home of rapper DMX, where they reportedly found a dozen neglected and malnourished pit bulls—many bearing scars—chained on his property. They also reportedly found the bodies of at least three dogs buried in the yard.

If this raid of DMX's home has a familiar ring to it, that's because it closely mirrors a 2002 law enforcement raid on his Teaneck, N.J., home which uncovered 13 caged, neglected pit bulls. For that incident DMX, aka Earl Simmons, avoided criminal dogfighting charges but pleaded guilty to animal cruelty, a crime for which he received a paltry sentence of probation and fines.

Perhaps even worse than the suffering DMX has allegedly inflicted on his own dogs is the suffering he has indirectly inflicted on untold numbers of other dogs by glamorizing dogfighting. Among high-profile rappers, DMX has been particularly brazen in making known his affinity for the bloodsport. For example,

The inside of DMX's 2003 "Grand Champ" CD, which features a pit bull on the cover, contains a booklet that outlines the definition of a "champion" fighting dog.
In a song titled "Dog Match," DMX spouts,

Place your bets
You can imagine what the bloodline is like
Since I love mine to fight. . .
All my pups is crazy, cause off the leash
They can eat, stand a match for 3 hours at least

DMX's "Ruff Ryder" recording label once created and marketed its own "Game Dog Professional" brand of dog food, featuring a well-muscled pit bull on the bag.
In 2006, DMX released a CD titled "Year of the Dog, Again" featuring a fearsome-looking, snarling pit bull on the cover, further reinforcing the image of the pit bull as a vicious fighting machine.

As much as DMX's apologists try to claim that he "loves" his dogs, the fact remains that no one who loves pit bulls would subject them to the cruel torture of dogfighting or incite others to do so.

While it remains to be seen what the results of the investigation into DMX’s pit bull compound will be, what is undisputed is that DMX, as a prominent rapper and role model for much of today’s youth, continues to play a large role in the degradation of the American Pit Bull Terrier. His continued glamorization of dogfighting has doomed untold numbers of innocent dogs to unspeakable suffering and deaths.

What You Can Do

Find out how to spot dogfighting in your community and what you can do to stop it.

See the Video

Dogfighting Pet Minute

Dog Eat Dog: The Bloodthirsty Underworld of Dogfighting

Dogfighting Fact Sheet

Sample Letter to the Editor about Dogfighting

Taking Action to End Dogfighting: How to Spot the Signs and What You Can Do

State Dogfighting Laws