Please Have a Heart…

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. ~Mahatma Ghandi

I’ve tried to write a blog post about Pit Bulls and dog fighting ever since Eagles signed Michael Vick. But the problem is that the emotions overcome me and I feel unequal to the task of putting down in words how I feel about it and why I feel that way. My eyes start shedding tears the instant I think about doing a post. Like now. I’m bawling. I guess I’ve seen too many pictures and read too many sad  heartrending stories of dogs who had to fight to survive and who just didn’t want to fight and who were just bad at it and who were just scared to death and who were just thrown into pits to be ripped apart.

Sometimes I wish I had never joined the whole animal rescue community and learn the plight of these dogs. Sometimes I wish I was oblivious to the facts and details and misconceptions about Pit Bulls and dog fighting. Sometimes I wish I could just say “what a pity” and move on.

But I don’t think I could ever feel differently about dog fighting and the pain the fighting dogs have to endure. The so-called “life” they have to live. The endless days of torture and blood and pain. Have you ever been bitten by a dog? Just one bite, not like getting things ripped off you like those dogs in the pits, but just a little bite that had to be treated at an ER? Do you know how excruciatingly painful it is? I don’t know if you are familiar with a story of any ex-fighting dog rescued from that tortuous life in the pits. Do you know how few of them actually “WANT” to fight other dogs?

I know most people really don’t think much about and don’t want to bother about Pit Bulls and dog fighting, and what are you really going to do if and when you learn the truth? It’s so remote from your life, you’ve never seen a dog fight, never even met anybody who’s seen a dog fight. And you’ll never own a dog anywhere close to a Pit Bull. Yeah, that’s the sad case for the Pit Bulls. Misunderstood and cursed for life, and so many people turning their backs on them cause they are just dogs, and even dubbed vicious dogs at that.

A dog fighting ring is always tied in with other crimes like drugs, money laundering, illegal weapons and other gang activities. Majority of those who find pleasure watching animals cry out in agony, covered in blood, limbs broken, flesh hanging loose turn out to be the most violent towards people. It’s not that far removed from our lives as you might think.

I’m not trying to make you a dog lover or an advocate for Pit Bulls. I’m not trying to convince you to read and learn about Pit Bulls, the most misunderstood dogs in this country right now, and their sad history. Of course if you do want to, lucky for you, there are excellent resources at Bad Rap or Pit Bull Rescue Central.

I started this post hours ago and I’ve spent too much time crying and blowing my nose. I keep closing this up since I can’t stand to be thinking about it so intensely, and I’m not making any sense. Oh well, the good news is that you can never accuse me of making much sense in anyway, so it’s nothing unusual. So what I’m trying to say is that I cannot write this post. Ha! You didn’t know that was coming after all the babbling! But yeah, I haven’t expressed even a fraction of what I feel and what I learned about Pit Bulls and dog fighting. I just can’t. I have a hard time articulating myself about things and people that I feel very strongly about and close to my heart. One reason you rarely read about my mom, dad, my sisters and their trials. But I digress.

I’m just asking you to be compassionate by being outraged when you read a news article about a dog fighter. By being indignant when the said dog fighter becomes the hero among all the other dog fighters. By being livid when he’s rewarded by a contract worth millions of dollars and allowed to be your kids’ role model. By being furious at his statement that it wasn’t his fault and his lack of remorse. By being  absolutely incensed at remarks like “he made a mistake” because laughing at dogs crying out in agony or throwing  his own family pet to see him get ripped apart for amusement cannot be categorized as “a mistake.”

If you can’t help but indifferent about the agony and misery for the poor dogs’ sake, I beg you not to be indifferent about the fact that more people including your kids are learning that not only it’s OK to torture and inflict such pain to another living being, but also it is an entertainment that they might try once or twice or until they get caught, which isn’t gonna be a big deal anyway.

“Philly’s always been a Mecca of dogfighting, but after Vick it exploded,” said Bengal. “He’s an idol.” ~From the article Pit Bulls in Pain, The Philadelphia Weekly

Please have some compassion. Even the most vicious criminals don’t deserve what those dogs have to go through. And their only crime? They were born Pit Bulls.