The Horrific Exploitation of Dogs in Fighting Rings

When I was checking out different adoption websites to find a dog to adopt, I came across something really upsetting. A lot of the dogs had descriptions saying, “This dog has health problems because it was forced into dog fighting before.” These dogs took forever to get adopted, and sometimes they never found a home and were put down instead.

In dogfighting, there’s also something called a “bait dog.” These are usually smaller, weaker dogs used to provoke the other dogs and make the fight more intense. IN many instances, their mouths are taped shut so they can’t defend themselves, which is why they’re used as bait. Sadly, around 44 dogs die every day from dogfighting in the US—16,000 a year—according to Dogster, even though dogfighting isn’t as common here as it is in other countries. The chances of bait dogs surviving are very low because of their injuries and the lack of medical care. The ones that are rescued usually need a lot of vet care, surgeries and rehabilitation, sometimes for the rest of their lives.

Dogfighting is illegal in most countries, but in places like Albania, Japan, Morocco, and Russia, it’s still legal. People do it for money and gambling—sometimes the bets can go up to $100,000 per fight (Dogster).

The American Pit Bull is one of the breeds most often forced into these fights. This is a big reason why Pit Bulls have a bad reputation for being aggressive—their breed has been mistreated a lot in the past.

All of these dogs end up with serious trauma, both physically and mentally. It’s a terrible form of animal cruelty that also involves other crimes like gambling and drug dealing. This causes a lot of suffering for the dogs and is really bad for society. We need stricter laws and more public awareness to stop this cruelty and protect these innocent animals.