Dog Fighting: The Voiceless Victims
Although dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states, it still continues, occurring in every part of the country and in every type of community.
The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) offers Crime Museum guests an inside look at the tools used by dog fighters to raise, train, fight, and kill dogs injured during this so-called “sport.” The exhibit features evidence seized from dog fighting raids by the ASPCA, including the largest dog fighting raid in U.S. history in 2009. The exhibit also demonstrates tools utilized by ASPCA veterinary forensic experts, combining state-of-the-art forensic science with veterinary medicine to discover how animals may have suffered or died.
Some of the many artifacts on display in the exhibit are:
- A treadmill used to condition dogs in preparation for fighting;
- A “rape” stand used to immobilize female dogs for breeding purposes;
- Breaking sticks used to force a dog’s release on another dog;
- A spring pole used to strengthen a dog’s bite, neck, and leg muscles as he pulls or hangs from the end;
- A handmade nailed collar used to antagonize fighting dogs;
- An electrocution device used to kill dogs who lost a fight or failed to show sufficient aggression toward other dogs;
- A pit bull skull excavated from a dog fighting crime scene;
- Clandestine grave excavation equipment used to carefully exhume animal remains to provide important evidence of dog fighting and animal cruelty in cases; and
- Michael Vick’s indictment papers, providing details of dogs that were fought and others that were killed. Learn more about Michael Vick