But the association of pit bulls with violent crime is stronger than the association of dogfighting with other crimes against humans GASTONIA, North Carolina; HAMPTON, Virginia––Alleged dogfighting busts are back in Michael Vick country, 16 years after the April 25, 2007 police raid that brought the Vick dogfighting case to light. Charges have yet […]
Dogfighter Elmer James Givens Jr. is at last convicted after 41-month stall
Continues to thumb nose at the court TACOMA, Washington––Elmer James Givens Jr., 41, perhaps the most publicized alleged dogfighter since former football player Michael Vick was busted in April 2007, and one of the most aggressively self-publicized of the social media era, became at last a convicted dogfighter on May 5, 2023. Sort of. Facing […]
Pit bulls again inflicted 90% of fatal dog-on-dog attacks in 2020
Recurring pattern continues to elude the animal care-and-control community, much of law enforcement, mass media, and the public NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.––Social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic kept people and dogs home in 2020, cutting reported dog attacks on other animals by more than half in 2020 from the annual average since ANIMALS […]
Record pit bull attacks on other animals in 2019, pro football, & the Titanic
Trent Williams case appears to exemplify national trend MISSOURI CITY, Texas––Pit bulls appear to have killed 50,541 other animals in 2019, the most ever, including 9,976 other dogs, 4,092 cats, and 27,450 other pets, poultry, and hoofed species, according to the seventh annual ANIMALS 24-7 projection from reported cases. Pit bulls accounted for 91% […]
HSUS, Donald Trump, & the PACT Act: The Art of the Deal
Good publicity for Trump, fundraising photo-op for HSUS & friends, but not much in it for animals WASHINGTON D.C.––One could almost suspect a quid-pro-quo deal––Latin for “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine”––among U.S. President Donald Trump and major U.S. animal charities, especially the Humane Society of the United States, in arranging the heavily […]
“Dog Fighting Awareness”: what the ASPCA ignored
Busts plummet as pit bull advocacy has all but legalized dogfighting NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.––Designated National Dog Fighting Awareness Day by the American SPCA, April 8, 2019 and the next several days appear to have passed without a single dogfighting bust or other noteworthy event pertaining to dogfighting occurring anywhere in the United States. […]
Alleged pit bull starver Lueders charged, but not her enablers
Arrest warrant affidavit issued more than two weeks after remains of caged pit bulls were found at Bully Breed Rescue president’s home FAIRFIELD, Connecticut––An arrest warrant affidavit has been at last been issued for Bully Breed Rescue president Heidi E. Lueders, 31, of Fairfield, Connecticut, police lieutenant Robert Kalamaras told media on November 29, […]
Study authors miss own findings about soaring cost of dog attacks
26% jump in dog attacks as percentage of deaths caused by non-venomous animals. STANFORD, California––At least fourteen major news agencies worldwide and even the authors of a newly published study entitled “An Update on Fatalities Due to Venomous and Nonvenomous Animals in the United States (2008–2015)” appear to have overlooked data included in the study […]
Pit bull advocates owe Michael Vick bigtime, at victims’ expense
Can victim advocacy restore integrity to the humane cause? WASHINGTON, D.C.––The 2007 conviction of football star Michael Vick for dogfighting helped hundreds of animal welfare executives and their minions to get filthy rich. Yet the animal advocacy groups pocketing the money did little, if anything, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the April 20, […]
Pit bull crime doubled in 2016
Surging use of pit bulls as offensive weapons WASHINGTON D.C.––Violent crime involving dogs approximately doubled in 2016, almost all of it involving pit bulls, according to the best available data. Rarely reported before 2013, known arrests of perpetrators who used pit bulls as adjuncts to armed robbery, rape, kidnapping, and murder, exclusive of manslaughter […]