Jun 20, 2007 7:45 am US/Central
Dog-Fighting Cases Growing In Bay Area, Nation
OAKLAND, Ca. (CBS) ―
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Dogs in the Bay Area are used more for street-fighting. The match is set after spotting an opponent walking by. (File)
CBS
Bay Area authorities say that as dog fights gain in popularity across the nation, owners are also training animals to spar in a cruel sport where spectators are out for blood.
Dog fighting, a brutal and bloody spectacle, has long remained popular across the United States. Evidence of it in the Bay Area shows up at the animal control shelter in Oakland.
"Every Monday and Tuesday morning, our staff comes here and finds three or four dogs that have been killed over the weekend," said Sgt. David Cronin, interim director of Oakland Animal Services. "They are in our night dropboxes, and it's obvious that they have been involved in an organized dog fight. They're dead, and they get dumped here."
Survivors with no more fight in them get dumped there, too.
One dog left at the shelter had fighting scars.
"Its left ear has been badly mutilated and was probably either used for fighting or used as a bait dog to motivate other dogs to fight," Cronin said.
Dogs in the Bay Area are used more for street-fighting. The match is set after spotting an opponent walking by.
"There's a little bit of money wagered," Cronin explained. "They go into somebody's backyard. Those dogs go after each other on leash."
The more organized fights are held in pits. The floor is covered to soak up the blood and give the dogs better traction. Crowds cheer them on.
"It's a scene that is hellish," said Eric Sakach, West Coast director of the Humane Society of the United States.
Sakach witnessed dog fights by going undercover to dog-fighting busts.
He has now trained more than 15,000 law enforcement officers on how to bust dog fights, using video shot by owners or promoters who proudly taped or photographed the brutal sport.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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