Rhode Island Animal Fighting Coalition

I am a member of this coalition. Susan

Abandoned pit bulls fill shelters, evidence of surge in illegal dogfighting
01:15 AM EDT on Sunday, May 2, 2004
BY KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer
Forced to fight to the death, and then dumped.
John Holmes sized up the odorous discovery: a dead pit bull, with its ear bitten off and deep gouges that exposed leg muscle. Wrapped in plastic trash bags, tossed in a Dumpster behind a Pawtucket gas station last June, and left to molder in summer heat.

"There were bite wounds throughout the body -- they had fought the dog," says Holmes, Pawtucket's animal control supervisor.

It was the same with a dead pit bull found behind a Weeden Street housing project a year earlier. "The bottom lip was gone," Holmes says; he believes that dog had also been used for sparring.

Shelter supervisors say evidence of such blood sport in Rhode Island -- on the rise across the country -- is as plain as the telltale scars and fresh wounds on many of the scores of pit bulls filling their cages.

The Providence shelter is full of abandoned, scarred pit bulls ("a pittatorium," says animal control officer Debbie Isherwood), and tips about animal fighting are received "all the time," says Richard Sousa, senior animal control officer in Providence.

Pit bulls posed a headache in Newport, until a recent crackdown.
Many stray pit bulls arrive at the East Providence shelter with "obvious fighting scars on their face," says John Smith, animal control supervisor. "You can tell that they've been in a battle. You look at their upper lips and you can see some tearing there."

Though there is little evidence to point to organized, professional dogfighting in Rhode Island (the last sizeable bust occurred in 1982 in Coventry), shelter officials and police say dogs -- and game birds -- are being fought in the streets, backyards and basements. But catching the fighting in action is like trying to grab onto wet soap.

With animal fighting on the upswing across the United States, coalitions against this are also on the rise, including a new group in Rhode Island that hopes to stop animal fighting and its attendant problems.

Still in fledgling stages, the "Rhode Island Animal Fighting Coalition" wants law enforcement to take animal fighting seriously and to investigate it, with the knowledge that frequently, where animal fighting exists, so do big money, illegal drugs, firearms, and worse.

The group wants to educate the public about animal fighting -- which includes cockfighting and dogfighting -- with the hope of prompting tips to law enforcement, strengthening the state's vicious dog laws, and pushing spay/neuter programs.

"Really, in a nutshell, we're there to identify where fighting is taking place, if possible; to do some demographics to figure out why we have so many fighting breeds in the state; and to figure out why we don't hear about it enough or have it reported enough," says Dr. Christopher Hannafin, state veterinarian, whose office plays a key role in the new group.

The problem is a multi-pronged one, involving animal cruelty, and the spread of a violent culture -- especially among youth -- that endorses it.

It involves unlicensed breeding and a proliferation of pit bulls, the current dog of choice in the dogfighting underground. It involves shelters full of vicious, unadoptable dogs. And, it involves stray pit bulls that corner civilians, police and firefighters -- and sometimes attack without provocation -- with terrible consequence.

"The coalition brings everybody together," from animal control officers, shelter representatives, breed-specific rescue groups (including at least three pit-bull rescue and advocacy groups), investigators and others, says David A. Holden, assistant director of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "There will be training involved so everyone knows what to look for," and the group provides "education and networking, and who to call for resources."

The coalition is not trying to enact a pit-bull ban.
THE TOWN of Newton, N.H. (pop. 4,289) got a jolt in 2002 with a high-profile dogfighting raid that netted nearly $300,000, 43 pitbulls, and paraphernalia such as steroids, weights and scales used in the "sport" of sparring dogs.

"It was right near the seacoast. This guy had 40-plus pit bulls, a huge amount of money and drugs. It got people thinking that [animal fighting] really does exist around here," says Hillary Twining, program director of the New England office of the Humane Society of the United States, in Vermont.

That bust spurred a daylong seminar last June in Warwick on investigating and responding to illegal animal fighting. Organized by Twining, and financed in part by the Rhode Island Foundation, the seminar drew 50 animal control officers and several shelter employees to the Radisson Airport Hotel.

The seminar concerned "the nuts and bolts of the law, and how to go about pursuing an investigation," as well as safe care and handling of aggressive dogs that have been bred and used for fighting, Twining says.

It also gave participants "some idea of the paraphernalia to look for from the professional-level person, all the way down to streetfighting," says Twining.

That seminar and others that Twining organized in the region became springboards to develop coalitions around New England, she says. Animal-fighting coalitions now exist in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and a group is just starting up in Maine.

The group's goals include promoting training programs for law enforcement; educating the public; improving cross-reporting and communication among local and regional law-enforcement, animal control officers and humane societies; and strenghtening animal-fighting laws and supporting their enforcement, says Twining.

Though Pawtucket recently enacted a ban against pit bulls, Twining says the group "is not looking to encourage breed-specific bans around the state.

"It's really controversial, and I'm not sure it's really effective," in part, because such bans "punish the dog and not the owner." In fact, the HSUS does not support such bans, she says. Further, pit bulls are not a breed, says Twining.

"Pit bull as a name doesn't describe a specific breed; it's generic," she says, and applies to dogs such as American pit bull terriers and Staffordshire terriers, that look similar but vary in genetic makeup. Twining says breed bans are therefore "constitutionally vague."

Hannafin also stresses that his office is not developing any laws or regulations banning any breeds in Rhode Island.
Given the controversy, Twining says the reputation of pit bulls "is going to be a big issue for our coalition."
Pit-bull advocates point out that with responsible owners, these dogs make loyal pets, as well as excellent search-and-rescue dogs, service dogs and pet therapy dogs.

Twining says that dating back to the 1800s, the dogs were known as "the children's nursemaid," and were considered good family pets. "Traditionally, they're very well-mannered with people. What they've been trained to be, is dog-aggressive in the pit," she says. "It doesn't mean the dogs don't suffer terribly. It ends up being a sad end to what was a sad life."

The coalition's quandary, she says, "is when we try to put together a brochure or make public outreach efforts, what is the fairest way to represent these dogs and showcase both their wonderful qualities, and represent the challenges with them?"

THE UPSURGE in dogfighting nationwide has been aided by the Internet and spurred by a society "fascinated with violence," says Eric Sakach, director of the HSUS West Coast regional office in Sacramento, Calif., and one of the country's foremost experts on dogfighting

Sakach, the agency's "point person on cockfighting and dogfighting," has spent more than 26 years investigating illegal animal-fighting ventures. He is qualified as an expert witness on the subject in five states and Canada, and has written training manuals for law enforcement.

The appeal animal fighting holds for those who engage in it, is the potential for "big money, a low chance of getting caught, and minimal penalties if you do," he says.

At the professional level, "we're talking, conservatively, 40,000 people" who are involved nationwide, Sakach says. Professionals work in national and international networks, cryptically advertise staged fights on Web sites or underground magazines, develop bloodlines in search of gameness (the willingness to fight), frequently own dozens of dogs, and travel around the country to fights that are held in pits or arenas for purses of up to $40,000.

When one considers that many of these people are breeding dogs, says Sakach, "the magnitude of the problem starts to become apparent, because we're talking about tens of thousands of dogs." At that level, "pups alone can be worth into four figures if they come from proven bloodlines."

At the hobbyist level, "dog men" tend to operate within a particular locality, usually in suburban areas, says Sakach, although they may travel across state lines for a fight. They often buy their dogs through newspaper ads, for $150 to $300.

But it is streetfighting -- the type that appears prevalent in Rhode Island -- that Sakach says is growing the fastest.

That type of spontaneous dogfighting is "frequently centered in inner-city, crime-plagued, high-population densities," and where gangs flourish. For gang members, owning a fighting dog can help establish their identities.

Though some may brush off streetfighting as less consequential than mid- or professional-level dogfighting, "to my way of thinking, streetfighting is the worst," says Sakach. "Some of the most horrendous cruelties are inflicted on the dogs that lose or embarrass their owners at that level."

Those can range from "divorcing the dog" and letting it loose on the streets, he says, to exacting "some sort of retribution on the dog for embarrassing them. There have been a number of cases, including in Chicago and New York, where dogs are found shoved in sewer drains, lit on fire . . . dogs that have been skinned. Others [hanged]. Sometimes they're just shot."

Of the dogs let loose on the streets, "many have scars or infections, open wounds and sores that are oozing." The dogs become the problem of animal control officers, and end up languishing in shelters, either awaiting vicious dog hearings, or euthanization, when they prove unadoptable.

"You can walk through almost any shelter in the country -- especially urban areas -- and frequently find anywhere from 20 to 60 percent of the dogs they are handling are pit bulls or something resembling a pit bull," says Sakach. "And many of those dogs have all the telltale scars or injuries associated with fighting."

To combat animal fighting, Sakach says animal control officers and investigators "need to be on the same page."
"Enlightened law-enforcement agencies understand the importance of going after these types of crimes," says Sakach, and understand that fighting dogs and dogfighting frequently involve peripheral activities, "including violence to people, gambling activity, conspiracy and gang activity. What we're trying to convince law enforcement is, when you take down a dogfight, you tend to take down a lot of this other stuff."

Task forces such as the new one in Rhode Island "are occurring now in various forms in much of the country." The national organization includes 300-400 member agencies and constitutes "an informational intelligence-sharing network in both cockfighting and dogfighting."

Sakach suggests that investigators need to learn "how to think outside the box and respond creatively," for example, by teaming animal control officers and police working with gangs in a particular area, and using strict enforcement of dog licensing as a pathway to other investigations.

That's exactly what happened in Boston. And it's working.
PIT BULLS USED as "loaded guns" had reached crisis level on Boston's streets, as Scott Giacoppo conducted state investigations during the mid-1990s.

"We were starting to see an increase in dangerous dogs, pit bulls in particular . . . The situation was absolutely out of control. There were almost nightly attacks of pit bulls," says Giacoppo, a former investigator with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who is considered an expert on the link between street gangs and dogs.

"Basically, the dogs were replacing the guns. A kid could walk down the street and wave a gun, and every cop in the city would be on top of them. They could do the same thing with a dog, and no one would bother them," he says.

That tactic has obvious implications for the drug trade. "If you want to stand on the street and sell drugs, [the neighbors] have to be afraid of you. Dogs are an excellent means to that end."

Investigators also realized that owners of vicious dogs would also steal neighborhood pets and let their dogs attack them "to send a message . . . in broad daylight they'd allow their dog to attack another dog and rip it to shreds. The dogs started taking on a whole new role apart from dogfighting."

A task force comprised of Boston animal control officers, MSPCA investigators and other law-enforcement agents implemented "a zero-tolerance policy" in Dorchester, says Giacoppo, "and put people on notice that these dogs can't be used in that manner." The crackdown worked. "All of a sudden, we weren't getting as many complaints in that part of the city."

Giacoppo says he's pleased that animal control officers and law enforcement are coming together on this matter in Rhode Island because "it's probably going to get worse."

LOTS OF COFFEE and the sugar rush of powdered doughnuts animates the discussion in an upstairs meeting room of the Cumberland Public Library, where the Rhode Island Animal Fighting Coalition has met every month or so since the fall.

Dave Holden, the Rhode Island SPCA assistant director, brings the group up to speed on legislation concerning vicious dogs.

Holden -- with input from other coalition members -- has crafted a bill to strengthen and amend Rhode Island's vicious dog laws (General Laws, Title 4, Chapter 4-13.1). The legislation has passed committees in both the House and Senate.

A few of the changes include "cleaning up the definition of what a vicious dog is," says Holden; requiring that any dog found vicious must be tattooed or fitted with a micro-chip for identification, and spayed or neutered; and adding a right of appeal for the dog owners, through District Court or Superior Court.

But that effort is an offshoot of the group's original purpose, and Twining -- who has driven here from Vermont for the meeting -- tries to rein in people by asking them to "brainstorm about what we want to focus on."

Paul Rose, Cumberland's chief animal control officer, wants to hold backyard fighters more responsible.
"What's going to stop the problem is spaying and neutering these dogs. And get rid of these idiots fighting in yards," Rose says.

John Smith and Jan Mitchell, both East Providence animal control officers, murmur a quiet aside. "Been there, done that," Smith says. "You spay and neuter all these dogs and they sit there in the shelters."

"They're making it so simplistic," Mitchell says. "Spay or neuter the pit bulls and that will take care of the problem." Obviously, neither she nor Smith think that's the case.

The conversation veers from how to go about spaying and neutering (one woman suggests posting fliers in downtown areas), to the dogs' reputation, to the strain that the pit-bull proliferation is putting on animal control officers, to the difficulty of establishing training in law-enforcement settings.

Though the group is still defining its focus, its members wax enthusiastic.
"I think it's wonderful," says Mitchell. "Everybody needs to start somewhere. Because we have so many different organizations involved in this task force -- shelters, pounds, volunteers -- they all have a different perspective. When you bring it all together, it makes a difference."

Rose, of Cumberland, says the group wants to get "some kind of program into the [state] police academy, so that they can recognize the signs" of animal fighting.

Holmes, the force behind Pawtucket's controversial pit-bull ban, says he was "a little reluctant in the beginning" to join the group.

But now, says Holmes, "I want to be a part of this because I believe these animals are being abused . . . Anybody who will take two dogs or two cocks or whatever and put them in a ring until they fight to the death, that's horrible."

Now that Holmes has worked with the coalition, he realizes "these people are animal lovers. We have a lot of dedicated people sitting in this new group."

ONE OF THE least-mentioned concerns has to do with public health, but that's high on state veterinarian Hannafin's list.

Though Rhode Island has had no recent arrests or convictions, "because we lie between the two major cities of Boston and New York, we appear to be either a dumping ground or a breeding ground" for a large number of animals, Hannafin says.

And as for dogs bred and used for fighting, many lack the proper vaccinations -- including rabies -- and pose the threat of disease spread through local shelters.

"We want to get the dogs out of those environments, and hopefully turn around this explosive population of these unwanted ones in this state," Hannafin says.

Hannafin and Holden, of the SPCA, say that anyone with information on dogfighting or cockfighting should report it to either of those offices.

Says Holden, "These people that are doing it -- it's a very, very closed group. We need people with good solid information to call us up. They can remain anonymous."

For more information on animal fighting coalitions, see www.animalfighting.org. For more information on pit bulls and pit bull rescue, see www.workingpitbull.com, or Pit Bull Rescue Central at www.pbrc.net.
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Susan: This a very valiant and noble coalition. I pray it has a serious empact and is spred all across the country.

 

It sounds like they have good goals and are determined to help the animals, but there were some mistruths in the article that IMO only help to feed the problem.

I'm curious as well, what happens to dogs they confiscate from fighting busts?

 

As far as I know, dogs that come into shelters (even dogs that have been used for fighting) are temperament tested. (Each shelter may have their own policy on adoption) (City's with Pitbull bans may be another sad story) I am AGAINST BSL. I don't think it helps out at all. Dogs that come into shelters that are obviously not adoptable as pets are euthanized. One thing I have found in rescue is you don't want to adopt a pitbull out to someone if the dog has major problems that cannot be worked with. If the dog ends up attacking, you have done nothing to change the dogs image in the public eye of these dogs but rather you have added to it! Unfortunately, you have to pick and choose which dogs you can save and which dogs you cannot save. Over 80 percent of dogs are pitbulls in RI. The stats on these dogs are: 3,684 dogs entered RI shelters in 2002. 78 Percent were adoptable dogs. Only 9 percent were considered vicious. Many never found their way to their forever homes only due to their BAD IMAGE! Most no kill shelters will not take in a pitbull/American Staff, or pit mix due to the fact that they can't find homes for the dogs and they just end up sitting in cages forever. Dogs that can be adopted are if homes can be found. One thing I always work on is changing the public image of these dogs.i.e. MyPetTherapyDog. She is a pitmix that sat in a shelter for 7 months before I came along and adopted her. She goes into local nursing homes and does pet therapy. I always write editorials about my dogs and write for a small magazine always trying to get he public to know "The True Pitbulls." Gradually, I get my point across. I do always find someone to argue about pitbulls with me. Usually some idiot that knows NOTHING about the breed whatsoever and thinks they are some type of expert on dogs. I keep plugging along! I don't waste my time with people like that any more. There are many people out there that can be persuaded by public awareness that our dogs are not monsters!!

Many dogs have sat in shelters for months, even years mainly due to media hysteria. I don't like the idea of pit bulls sitting in a cage for years upon years rotting away either. It is a sad sad situation. In one of our shelters, a dog came in and had wire marks around his jaw. He was used as a bait dog. His temperament was awesome. He sat for many many months waiting for his forever home. He finally found it and is happy and safe. In this state, we have WAY TO MANY PITBULLS, but people with NO business breeding just keep breeding them anyway. I am against back yard breeding. I wish laws were passed to stop back yard breeding of pitbulls and stricter laws will be passed along with stiff jail time of animal abuse offenders. The fines they pay could be used for spay and neuter of the dogs that are highly adoptable or put to good use for public awareness seminars, task force training, etc.
It is a long battle ahead!