COMBATING DOG FIGHTING

Dog fighting tears at the moral fabric of society. It condones a level of violence and cruelty that not only has great consequences to the community that tolerates its existence, but it also walks hand in hand with other criminal activities.

Bait Dog/Animals

Terrified dogs either “free to a good home”, stolen or strays are being used to train other dogs to fight. Their mouth is tied firmly shut with duct tape rendering them defenceless and with no chance of escaping the powerful dogs which are set upon them in a frenzied attack. When bait dogs are so injured and weak to be of any further use, they let the poor animals’ final attacker maul them to death. Any small animal can be used as a bait animal.

General Info

Dogs are bred and trained from young pups to be aggressive, they are antagonised from a very younger age.

Dogfighting can be defined as a sadistic blood sport “contest” in which two dogs, trained to fight, are placed in a small arena to fight each other for the spectators’ entertainment and gambling purposes.

It is a thriving and ever-growing criminal activity in South Africa, supported by people from all walks of life and various backgrounds. Dog fights are not the work of a single lawbreaker but instead constitute a form of incredibly violent organised crime that is intricately linked to many other criminal activities.

It is a multimillion-rand industry with an intricate underground web ranging from impromptu events in a back alley with stolen dogs to a carefully planned and organised enterprise, using family bred dogs and held in a location specially designed and maintained for the purpose of showcasing this brutal event.

The American Pit Bull Terrier has become the most popular dog breed victim of this crime in South Africa. Dogs used for these fights can either be purpose bred for these fights or stolen from loving homes. Fighting dogs are denied their five freedoms – they are often antagonised, beaten, starved, or injected with steroids to increase aggression. They spend their lives chained up or locked in small cages in filthy conditions. Those dogs who do not show sufficient fighting potential or lose in the pit fights are left to succumb to their untreated injuries or may be killed in the most brutal of manners such as by hanging, strangulation, electrocution, drowning or being beaten to death.

The participants in dog fighting are aware they are engaged in illegal activities, so they create a fraternity type of atmosphere, instilling fear of retaliation to discourage informants and create a double life image through involvement in legitimate dog sports activities.

Report Dog fighting to your SPCA, you will stay anonymous.

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POISONINGS

Clinical signs of poisoning in a dog may include:

• Gastrointestinal signs: Vomiting, diarrhoea, extreme salivation, loss of appetite, and nausea or dry heaving
• Internal bleeding: Indicated by pale gums, a racing heart, coughing up or vomiting blood, weakness or lethargy, or a dog’s falling over or collapsing
• Kidney failure: Increased or decreased urination, increased drinking as well as lack of appetite, vomiting, or diarrhoea
• Liver failure: Yellow gums, acting abnormally or dully as well as tarry stool (melena), vomiting, diarrhoea, or collapsing due to low blood sugar.

Signs and symptoms

• The following symptoms may indicate that your dog has been poisoned:
• Disorientation, vomiting, confusion, excessive salivation and coughing up slime, excessively runny nose, hyperventilation, lethargy, difficulty breathing, convulsions and seizures, diarrhoea that may be mucous or black or “tarry” in the case of anticoagulant poisoning, abnormal pupils – either pinpoint or dilated, tremors and muscle twitching, temporary or partial paralysis, partial loss of movement, unconsciousness, coma, bleeding from the nose, gums or wounds, acute blindness in the case of anticoagulants, and blood in the urine in the case of anticoagulants.
• Anticoagulants are medicines that help prevent blood clots. These agents are also present in rat and mouse poisons, that are also used to poison dogs.

What to Do if Your Dog Has Been Poisoned

• Make sure your dog is breathing, alert, and behaving normally.
• Keep your dog and everyone else away from the source of the poisoning. Wearing a pair of latex gloves carefully place some of the suspect poison in a bag. That will help medical professionals make the right decision for treatment.
• Don’t use any at-home remedies or antidotes. And don’t try to make your dog vomit before you talk to a veterinarian. Vomiting may be the right approach, but it might also be dangerous based on what your dog ingested and what’s happening in the dog’s body.
• Make an immediate call to your veterinarian
• Take your pet to the nearest emergency veterinary clinic as soon as possible. The sooner you get help for a dog poisoning, the better the chances your dog can recover from poisoning.
• Do a thorough search of your garden for other poisoned food.

Poison used

The poison that is used is very potent – around 97% of animals that are poisoned die. Poison is usually placed in viennas, Russians or mince and fed to the dogs. Once the dogs are dead, the homes are easy targets for housebreaking or theft.

“The most common poison used is Aldicarb, also known as ‘two-step’. It’s called that because the pet takes two steps and dies.”

Other poisons commonly used are Carbofuran and Terbufos. These are all pesticides and are highly toxic.

What happens is that the animal’s nervous system shuts down. It is paralysed and then suffocates to death. It would take a big dog 20 minutes to die, and a smaller dog could be dead within five minutes.

Aldicarb is a grainy black substance and is readily available at informal shops and taxi ranks, where it is sold in little plastic bags.

Poisoning of pets has been on the increase for years

The SPCA urges the public to keep their pets inside at night and to report incidents of poisoning to their local SPCA and police.

Keep your dog’s away from your front yard. And let them sleep inside at night. This is safer for you and obviously for your dog.

Criminals are cowards and reluctant to enter a property where the dog can alert homeowners.