The illegal sport of dog fighting shares many characteristics with the illegal sport of fox hunting. Both ‘sports’ involve training dogs to attack and fight, be it on another dog or a wild animal such as a fox( which is a wild member of the dog family) or a stag or hare.The whole sport is induced for the recreational purposes of a minority of people and involves unnecessary suffering for the animal victims involved.
The message of this video is to demonstrate that it is unacceptable to train dogs to attack each other or another species of animal as a social pursuit. One activity is mainly carried out in urban and sometimes rural areas and the the other pursuit of fox hunting is carried out in rural areas only. They both involve participating in the violent activities of dog attacks. Bull and bear baiting involved dogs attacking bulls and bears as a recreational spectacle yet they were rightly banned. Dog fighting and fox hunting have also been banned yet we find ourselves in the extraordinary position of the possible repeal of the Hunting Act 2004 which bans hunting wild mammals with dogs.
A few hunters will argue indignantly that setting hounds onto foxes bears no resemblance to bear or bull baiting since these poor creatures were confined to an enclosure with no escape. Yet it is significant to remember that the unfortunate fox is also denied its escape mechanism in traditional fox hunting since fox earths are often blocked prior to a hunt thus preventing the fox it’s natural sanctuary of escaping underground. It is a premeditated action like dog fighting which is arranged in advance for the sole purpose of participating in an organised and contrived event of encouraging dogs to attack another animal.
When foxes do manage to escape underground by chance they are often dug out by terriermen with shovels and dogs. Terriermen do not use packs of hounds like the hunts they often follow but use small terriers who are sent into the fox earth to fight with the fox and drive it out to it’s death above ground.
http://www.league.org.uk/content.aspx?CategoryID=439
Please visit this link for more information about dog fighting and terrrierwork. Our Co Founder attended the Fighting Dogs Conference hosted by The League Against Cruel Sports in July 2010 in Westminster Hall, Chaired by John Cooper QC. It was a disturbing insight into the aggressive world of dog fighting and dogs being set onto wild animals for recreational activities. The Conservatives Against Fox Hunting Co Founder personally talked to leading dog fighting investigators and dog behavourists at the event.
These included Dr Kelly Daley of The Humane Society Of America, known for her extensive research into urban Chicago dog fighting, Tim Yeo of the RSPCA, Rachel Newman, who worked as a solicitor and spent thirteen years at the RSPCA as Head of Prosecutions. She now heads the League’s legal team, and in her speech, talked about terrierwork and Vanessa Stead , author of ‘The Rescue Dog’, and a practising canine behaviourist. Her perspective on the impact that fighting activities have on the dog’s individual psychology was fascinating. Our Co Founder also listened to the talk given by PC Keith Evans of the West Midlands Police Dangerous Dogs Unit.
There was also a fascinating talk given by Camila Batmanghelidjh of the inspirational children and young people’s charity Kids Company who spoke about the roots of the problem of dog fighting with young men using dogs as weapons and as the subject of their violence. Her talk also conveyed that there is often a strong link between the psychology of low self esteem of those engaged in dog fighting and the need to feel in control as in the case of training dogs to attack and fight in this activity. Some fighting dog owners may have suffered abuse and violence in their childhood and the sense of wishing to escape from the victim position is strong. By owning a victorious fighting dog, the dog owner may feel that some of the prestige and power of a dog winning fights is transferred to them amongst their peer group.
In fox hunting, stag hunting etc , a defenseless wild animal becomes the victim of an organised social pursuit yet again involving dogs trained to attack other animals- wild animals in this case. We would like the people involved in such hunts with dogs, to examine why they enjoy initating and participating in the unnecessary cruel death of an animal being set upon by dogs and question if they feel it is acceptable to be involved in such an activity out of choice for recreational purposes. Less than 0.6% of the population are engaged in such pursuits. That means that over 99% of the population of the UK do not particpate in such activities. It is indeed a minority sport and we ask that it should remain illegal and that our politicians respect the majority opinion against a return of hunting with dogs.
www.diggingout.org The following extract is from this website. please visit for more indepth information on this issue.
Almost forty percent of all foxes killed during fox hunting are by terrier work. Apart from the pain of injuries from fighting underground, sometimes a dog entered may encounter a wild animal with its back to it, and therefore that dog will rip at the backside of the wild creature.
This cruelty can last for several hours, and there are accounts of foxes having parts of their back passage and abdomen ripped out while in this position.
There are also numerous references to foxes having their faces ripped off by the dog underground. We also have numerous evidence of dogs staying underground for a very long time to polish off (eat) so to speak the animal that they have killed underground. There have been stories told where the dog has eaten his fill and is too fat to escape up the tubes from where it came. So much for the often repeated lie that a fox either escapes or is almost instantly killed during foxhunting
