REAL LIFE
52
CT’s
Quest To
BY VA N ESSA PA PASEND A
BLOOD
SPORT
THE Western Cape
unites to end a blood
sport that has no
place in this world.
D
OG fighting is no longer South
Africa’s dirty little secret. More
than enough cases have come to
light for us to be aware that this
blood sport is a reality, with an increased
occurrence rate of over 500 percent in the
last few years and supported by people from
all walks of life and various backgrounds.
Dog fighting is illegal in SA. It has been
since 1945. But then again, so is murder,
rape and robbery and yet levels of these
priority crimes continue to climb. In a
mammoth leap, Cape Town is in the process
of establishing an anti-dog fighting task
team, which will hopefully be a beacon of
encourage to other areas to do the same. The
team aims to decrease the number of both
syndicated and individual fights, a stronger
legislative environment to tackle dog fighting
and more robust penalties.
Blood sports involving animals are an
ancient form of entertainment. The Romans
pitted fighting dogs against other animals
like elephants in the Coliseum. In England,
bulldogs – frequently crossbred with terriers- were forced to attack bulls or bears, a
practice called bull-baiting that was outlawed
in 1835. Over the centuries that followed,
concerns over the cruelty of the practice
grew and many countries outlawed the
‘sport’. However, dog fighting never stopped - not completely – and today it still takes
place around the globe – and South Africa
is no exception. Experts estimate that tens
of thousands of people are involved in
professional dogfighting, while hundreds of
thousands might be participating in so-called
‘streetfighting’, or informal dogfights.
While there are a number of dog breeds
used for fighting, Pit Bulls are considered
the dog of choice because they are believed
to be ‘genetically stronger’. The reality is
many of these dogs are forced into adopting
aggressive behaviours through cruel training
methods aimed at preparing them for a fight
to the death.
The life of a fighter dog is often short-lived
and painfully cruel. These dogs are not
allowed to live normal lives. Instead, they
spend their time shackled and chained
when not fighting. They are frequently
beaten, antagonised and starved. As part
of training, handlers will take other dogs,
cats or rabbits (either stolen or found on
‘free to good home’ classifieds) and use
these animals as ‘bait’. Inside the ring, these
dogs endure severe and often fatal wounds.
Typical dogfighting injuries include bruising,
deep puncture wounds and broken bones.
Dogs used in these events often die of
blood loss, shock, dehydration, exhaustion
or infection hours or even days after the
fight. Over the years, law enforcement raids
have unearthed many disturbing facets
of dog fighting. Young children are often
present at these events, which promotes
insensitivity to animal suffering, enthusiasm
for violence and disrespect for the law. Illegal
gambling is commonplace at dogfights, with
wagers of thousands of rands at stake. This
profitability makes dogfighting commonplace
in organised crime settings as well as theN O T F O R S E N S I T I V E R E A D E R S