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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: January/February 2008

A close look at the "bully movement"


Guest Column
by Phyllis M. Daugherty
Director, Animal Issues Movement
ANIMALISSU@aol.com

 

The November/December 2007 ANIMAL PEOPLE editorial "Adding consideration to compassionate acts" was heartwrenching in its truth. It is so hard for kind, caring humans to ignore or forget the eyes of a hungry or suffering animal. But our need to "save" the animal must be tempered with realistic consideration for the animal, rather than be done to boost our own egos. This is especially true when our personal resources or future access will be limited. Thanks for your diplomatic handling of a sensitive topic.

Applying realistic consideration is particularly important in dealing with dogs bred and trained to fight, who may be a threat to other animals, and possibly to humans, for the rest of their lives. But the greater question must be: Do innocent pets and people deserve to become victims of a genetic propensity? As we know, too often the quality of the lives of pit bull terriers in a shelter far surpasses the quality of life they had in their prior existence at the hands of an owner who bred or purchased them merely for an average less-than-two-year stint of isolation, fighting, suffering and reproducing. Certainly euthanasia done by a reputable shelter is much kinder and gentler than being killed by a "guardian" with the mentality of Michael Vick.

It is hard to predict whether physically infiltrating dog fight organizations, as you discussed on page six of the November/ December 2007 edition, would actually provide much information of long-term value, now that a large amount of dog fighters' communication and boasting is done by Internet and can be fairly easily accessed in chat rooms by those with Internet savvy.

As you stated, the driving force in this worldwide industry is money from illegal drug and gun sales. Infiltration might help identify certain fight locations, but will it really make an impact on the overall industry in proportion to the danger the industry presents and monetary investment that sustains it?

My perspective is that we can often identify dog fighters, whose egos usually far surpass their intellect-but the awesome burden of housing the dogs and getting convictions is too often disproportionately large relative to the short length of jail sentences that dog fighters usually receive, typically through pleading guilty to lesser offenses.

If we systematically and seriously pursued cruelty charges in response to anyone keeping pit bulls in inhumane conditions, unlicensed, scarred, or injured, rather than waiting for the occasional in-progress dog fight, could we not make a greater impact on the industry at all levels and better benefit the dogs and the public?

I think you made one of the most important points ever regarding the addiction to dog fighting when you wrote several years ago that minority communities are as perplexed as anyone about how to escape being terrorized and exploited by those who convince many of their young men that "respect" comes from having the baddest dog in the neighborhood, and that nothing to be gained through education can match the income and power accessible to them through dog fighting.

Dog fighting today is often associated with minority youth, but this is a relatively recent development. I have a large collection of dog fighting books and magazines, the oldest of which is undated but appears to be from the late 19th century. During the 1950s the publication Your Friend & Mine featured dog fighters and chronicled dog fights, bite by bite and wound by wound, both in words and photos. The "dogmen" were usually white males from 30 to 70 years of age, who stood around the pits watching fights in business suits and ties. From descriptions in the books, most were involved in normal business activities, and not connected--at least not openly--with mobs or gangsters. Having the best "pit dog" still "made the man," as it does today in these barbaric and atavistic circles, but the motivations and benefits have changed.

In the old magazines, women and children were only present in cover photos to demonstrate the "family" aspect of the dogman's life and the gentle nature of the dogs when not in combat. The colors of the dogs mattered little. They were prized for utility, not looks. The goals were maintaining a bloodline of dogs who showed published wins in the pit, and making money from gambling and breeding.

Most of these publications are gone. New "bullies" magazines have hit the market, filled with cool cars and hot women--for example, a provocatively-posed sex goddess with a pit bull sitting between her long legs, staring from behind a high chain-link fence, defying approach.

Doggie "bling" is now 3-inch-wide collars and harnesses with simulated weaponry, such as bullet casings mounted between inch-and-a-quarter spikes to keep the dog from being attacked, stolen, stopped or grabbed by friends, foes, law enforcement, or animal control. The musculature of these animals, who are various mixtures of pit bull and English bull dog, is ominous.

Bully magazines advertise designer pit bulls--Gottiline, Razor's Edge, dogs with names like "Sir Crush-a-Lot," and on and on, averaging over 100 pounds while only 17 inches tall, with 28-inch heads, limbs "the size of a baseball bat," and bred for "family protection," not friendliness.

Although dog fighting and "gameness" are only mentioned occasionally, the articles are usually interviews that serve as ads for breeders and encourage others to breed; and dogs are described as potential "Champions" and "Grand Champions," the same titles garnered by winning staged fights. One major line sells pups for $2,800 and a male stud for $38,000. Buyers are encouraged--expected-to start their own lines. The magazines and bully shows, held all over the U.S., provide a market driven by appearance of the dog and the promise of stature, wealth and prominence for those who own and breed these physically magnificent animals. They shows also provide a place to win monetary prizes and ribbons for conformation and weight pulling--a way to boost stud fees and the price of offspring.

Pit bull fighters have been involved in political action since the 1980s, when breed-specific legislation and outlawing the breed became a possibility because of attacks on humans. Richard Stratton, a San Diego school teacher viewed by many as the ultimate guru of dog fighting, and author of a series of books that have collectively become the bible on pit bulls, stated as early as 1981 in The Book of the American Pit Bull Terrier his concerns about the breed being eliminated by making pit bulls illegal to possess. In 1997 The Pit Bull Gazette, published by the American Dog Breeders Association, which according to Stratton "has not denounced pit contests." contained an article advising pit bull owners to organize in their communities and hire attorneys to speak to legislative groups in order to stop anything but generic, non-specific vicious dog laws.

The new bully magazines openly encourage unity among all pit bull and bully keepers in taking political action against mandatory spay/neuter and breed-specific legislation of any kind. Bully breeders have established their own national registry, the American Bully Kennel Club, to control the industry and marketplace, and basically bypass the American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club, and American Dog Breeders Association, in itself "focused on serving the needs of the American Pit Bull Terrier breeders," according to the ADBA web site. The professed goal of the American Bully Kennel Club is to create a "bully nation."

In conversation, bully advocates have stressed to me establishing cooperative unity with those they perceive as allies, including organized breeders, humane groups that oppose breed-specific legislation anywhere, and the no-kill movement, because it guarantees no interference with their "business." As long as shelters everywhere are packed, no one can seriously address pit bull issues. These new lines of dogs of overwhelming mass and strength would be hard to contain in many kennels, and lack the traditional friendliness that has often endeared even some of the most aggressive fighting dogs of the past to kennel workers.

Is the bully movement a front for dog fighting? Well, many of the major bully breeders interviewed in the magazines have more than their share of tattoos, piercings, jewels in their teeth, massive breeding kennels on their properties with dogs kept separately, and admissions of prior incarceration. I have not found any articles in bully publications condemning dog fighting, nor any openly claiming involvement. In one article, a breeder stated that while he doesn't personally fight his dogs, he understands that others "feel differently." Although only a few of the dogs pictured in the magazines are scarred, one breeder mentioned that certain of his dogs are "too game" to be kept on his premises, offering no indication of where they go.

The main goal appears to be boosting numbers. Artificial insemination kits can be purchased over the Internet, claiming to be the semen of "Pit Bull/English Bull Dog," or just "Pit Bull," so you can start your own line without leaving your house, if you have a female. One t-shirt worn by a breeder in a "bully magazine" photo reads, "You Can't Stop Us All."

Unfortunately, if thousands of bullies are bred indiscriminately and merely for profit every year, shortly they may be so pervasive that we won't be able to stop any of them--nor protect them.