Fighting Dogs to Bust Dog Fighters

In 2009, the largest dogfighting raid netted more than 500 Pit Bulls, of whom about 250 were saved from death. The raid occurred after the Missouri State Highway Patrol began an undercover investigation in 2008, with the assistance of the Humane Society of Missouri.

The undercover agents did the following:
* Purchased dogs from a renowned Pit Bull breeder and dog fighter
* Purchased acreage to house 40 dogs and puppies the same way dog fighters do
* Took their dogs to fights and fought them
* Were involved in at least one prolonged fight that resulted in the death of their dog

That is to say, the state of Missouri and the US federal government sanctioned the creation of a dog fighting operation in order to stop a dog fighting operation. That would be like me trying stop child prostitution by selling the body of my neighbor's 7-yr-old daughter. Doesn't sound so nice when you put a human face on the victim instead of a dog's, does it? It's awful and, unless I'm missing something, pretty wretched, no matter the victim's species.

Reading this article is difficult. I think of those 40 dogs and puppies, of how they were bought like commodities, treated like commodities, trained like commodities, fought and died like commodities on our dime.

Is fighting a dog, allowing him to inflict pain on another dog, to have pain inflicted on him permissible, circumstance depending? Is watching two dogs tear each other apart, watching people electrocute and murder their failed fighters okay, circumstance depending?

That's the message here, at least what I'm getting. That it is okay to fight dogs if your trying to "save" dogs. It's okay to watch people kill dogs, so long as the ends justify the means.

To me and those dogs, the ends don't justify the means. Find another way, folks. Don't be a dogfighter to stop dog fighting. Just don't. The dogs don't deserve that.

We are better than that. If we're not, how sad and tragic is that? What does that say about us as a society and species? Nothing nice, that's for sure.