Today is National Dog Fighting Awareness Day, a day started by the ASPCA to raise awareness of this heinous crime. Animal lovers all over are encouraged to spread the word and take action where they can. The Tuesday’s Tails weekly blog hop today is dedicated to this cause.
When approaching this subject, I wasn’t sure what angle to come at it from. I decided to take a look at what might be going on in my own state of New Hampshire. I am happy to be able to say that I couldn’t find a lot of information on any dog fighting rings being broken up in my state. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not happening here. I found one article from 2010 about our biggest city of Manchester. In a city like this, with densely populated neighborhoods, it is more likely there are small groups participating in this sport in basements and other places where they won’t be overheard. This makes them more difficult to find.
That is why citizens are encouraged to watch for the signs….scarred Pit Bulls with cropped ears, wearing heavy chain collars, could be a sign that something illegal is going on with those dogs. These dogs don’t go to vets for care, so it is up to everyone else to watch out for it. Dog fighting is a felony in New Hampshire as well as all 50 states and federally. In New Hampshire it is to a felony to keep, own, or possess fighting dogs as well as be a spectator.
The federal government also continues to be aware of these crimes and to pass new legislation. As part of the Farm Bill, that was recently passed and signed by the President, was the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act. This Act makes knowingly attending an animal fight a crime subject to fines and jail time. It is a separate crime to take a minor to these events, with even higher penalties. You can find additional information on that Act here.
Because of this cruel sport, there are many, many Pit Bulls in need of homes. They get a bad rap because of this fighting….when it is the upraising of these dogs that can turn them into fighters. They want to please people, and they are taught that fighting is a way to do that. In truth, they are gentle, friendly, loyal and loving animals once known as “nanny dogs”.
Today we are all sharing adoptable Pit Bulls. Last month I shared two siblings, Angel and Honey Boo Boo, who are with the North Country SPCA in Westport, New York. These two dogs are still looking for homes (please click on their names to be taken to their Petfinder pages).
In addition I’d like to share a Pit Bull mix named Mocha-chino who is with Eleventh Hour Rescue in Rockaway, New Jersey.
Mocha-chino has her own Facebook page with over 1,000 followers yet she has still not found a home after two years. I know she is already getting a lot of exposure through Facebook but I wanted to share her because her sweet face and her story have touched my heart. She was happily in a temporary foster home for 6 months, but recently had to be returned to the shelter because her foster parent became ill.
They don’t know much about Mocha’s past, but she was left with trust issues and can take time to warm up to people. She has some special “aunts” who will often take her on trips from the shelter, and when you see the photos of her with her aunts, you can see that her trust can be gained and she is a very loving and sweet girl. She does need to be in a home with older children only, and no other animals. Mocha enjoys car rides, hiking, and snuggling!
Additional info on Mocha:
- Housebroken
- Knows basic obedience.
- Size: just under 50 lbs
- Micro-chipped
- Guessed to be around 3 years old.
- Lab/Pit mix
You can follow Mocha on Facebook here, or visit her page at Eleventh Hour Rescue here.
Surely the right home is out there for her, perhaps a single person or a couple looking for a special companion. Let’s hope that Mocha and all of the other Pit Bulls being shared today can be in new homes soon!
This hop is being hosted by Talking Dogs Blog, Barking from the Bayou, Lola the Pitty, Love is Being Owned by a Husky and Dogs N Pawz. Please visit and share as many of these stories as you can.
Dog fighting is terrible. Would love to see it stopped.
I couldn’t agree more!
Great post, hopefully we can stop dog fighting. Sad sad 🙁
Thank you. It is very sad, and I hope we can end it too.
Oh, Mocha is such a cutie and I love her name. Hope she finds her furever home soon. Poor little sweetie. I’m glad you couldn’t find much info about fighting in your state! Hope that’s a good sign!
She is so cute and I can’t believe she hasn’t found a home yet!
I also hope it’s a good sign that there’s not much dog fighting here…hopefully that trend can spread across the country.
Oh they are so beautiful, I would have them all if I could..better behaved than the Blond I have LOL 🙂 xxoxxxx
Mollie and Alfie
I know, me too. I know what you mean about blonds too…LOL, since we also have one!
Thank you for sharing about such an important issue. It’s not talked about much anymore, but I’m sure it still happens much more than we know. It’s good to know what to look out for
I’d like to think because we weren’t hearing much since Michael Vick, that meant it was slowing down. But I know there were a couple big busts lately, so that might be wishful thinking.
I love seeing everyone share Pit Bulls that are up for adoption. I wish I would have known and I probably could have found one at the shelter Dolly came from. I like the angle you took focusing on you home state. Chicago is rife with dog fighting I wouldn’t know were to begin and since I am not very knowledgeable I simply shared the ASPCA’s message. I guess that’s the easy way out but hopefully every little bit helps. The Lady
I believe every little bit does help, and your post was great! It helped to get the word out there and that is what’s important.
Maybe you could share an adoptable Pit bull or other pet for one of the other Tues Tails blog hops, if you wanted to share someone from Dolly’s shelter.
Thanks for helping to spread the word! It’s so sad that people actually do this to dogs, or watch it happen. Mocha is adorable too. 🙂
I hope it helps at least in some small way. None of us can even begin to understand the minds of people who can do this or watch it, nor do we want to.
I hope Mocha’s sweet face helps her to find a home soon!
I’m glad New Hampshire doesn’t have a big dog fighting problem. Your state leads the way in lots of arenas for homeless pets. Mocha-chino is a beauty and I hope she finds her forever home very soon.
I hope so too. I think NH is a great state for pets, though I’m sure we could be more pet friendly in many ways. But to not have a lot of problems with big things like dog fighting or puppy mills is a wonderful thing for us.
Mocha is beautiful. I liked her FB page. So sad that she has been there for 2 years and I was really hoping Honey Boo Boo and Angel had been adopted. Off to share.
Thank you for going over to like Mocha’s page. I hope all three of these dogs can find homes soon, as well as all of the others being shared in the hop.
Love the focus of your post. Unfortunately, if I’d focused on my state (MO) my post would have been pages and pages long 🙁 Sharing.
Thank you, I know I am lucky to live in a state where it is not so bad when it comes to things like dog fighting. But it is so sad that it is still so prevalent in other states like yours. I hope that can change.
This is so sad – two years in a shelter?! That’s no life for a dog. Pit bulls are one of my very favorite breeds; I have had nothing but positive experiences with them. They deserve more POSITIVE recognition and appreciation rather than just being overlooked because of the reputation of their breed 🙁 I will share this!
Great post; thanks for sharing!
And thank you for coming by to read my post. I agree with everything you said also!
I’ve grown quite fond of some of the pit bulls at the shelter where I volunteer. I don’t think they were used in dog fighting, but certainly all pit bulls suffer from discrimination by people who assume they’re aggressive.
They certainly do all suffer from that, and I hope that trying to end dog fighting could also put an end to that stigma. They are very sweet dogs.
Dog fighting is evil, lovely looking dogs, sharing.
Sheba.
I totally agree, Sheba.
That was a really great post! Thanks for sharing those pups. So sad that some dogs stay for so long in shelters. I wish more people would adopt from shelters.
Thanks for linking up with us today.
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Thank you! I am happy to contribute something to the cause! It is sad and I hope this hop helps more dogs to get adopted from shelters too.