Question about what to do about dog fighting... (pitbull, rescue, shelter)

[PitBullMommie1206]

A while back, maybe 2 years ago now, my husband was walking Brooklyn around our neighborhood and some random guy came up and talked to him about Brooklyn and asked him if he fought Brooklyn! Umm.. NO! Anyway, my husband told him that we do not fight our dogs, and the guy told my husband that he owns pits loves them and fights them out of his house! So, after that we called Animal Control and reported it and NOTHING was done about it!

I don't know what made me think of this now, but I was just thinking, what do you have to do to get someone to do something about dog fighting? If my husband would have acted like he was cool with all of that and went into the guys house and got some pictures of stuff that they used for dog fighting, that way we had some proof, would they do something then? What do you have to do to get something like that stopped?

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by PitBullMommie1206

A while back, maybe 2 years ago now, my husband was walking Brooklyn around our neighborhood and some random guy came up and talked to him about Brooklyn and asked him if he fought Brooklyn! Umm.. NO! Anyway, my husband told him that we do not fight our dogs, and the guy told my husband that he owns pits loves them and fights them out of his house! So, after that we called Animal Control and reported it and NOTHING was done about it!

I don't know what made me think of this now, but I was just thinking, what do you have to do to get someone to do something about dog fighting? If my husband would have acted like he was cool with all of that and went into the guys house and got some pictures of stuff that they used for dog fighting, that way we had some proof, would they do something then? What do you have to do to get something like that stopped?

I would caution anyone about taking it upon themselves to get "in" and take pictures. Along with the dog fighting goes other things criminal. This could get bad VERY fast. All you can do is report it.

[groar]

i agree with driller - you need to keep safety in mind, and trying to infiltrate a dogfighting ring on your own could be a very unsafe situation.

you might want to try to talk to someone one on one and see if you can find an officer who can be your primary animal control contact. in larger cities, sometimes each major shelter has their own humane officer on staff - call around if there is more than one large shelter in your area. see if you can find someone who will follow up with you to tell you what happened. you might want to try contacting small local rescues to see if there's a humane officer they particularly like - different officers' level of commitment and follow-through can vary greatly, and people who work in rescue often get to know all the local officers personally. then call animal control and ask specifically to speak to that officer.

[kodaka]

I agree trying to be your own private detective could have been very dangerous for you or your husband.

Animal control would need an address to investigate allegations of dogfighting. Were you able to provide that? It doesn't sound like your husband interacted with the guy enough to get that information.

And how do you know they didn't do anything? Unless they guy was an immediate neighbor and you are home all day every day to witness a visit from animal control, you have no way of knowing if they investigated or took any action. Its not like they're going to send you a letter or stop by and inform you that they arrested someone for a crime that didn't involve you.

[Hopes]

I wouldn't stop at just calling Animal Control. I'd contact an animal activist affiliated with a no-kill shelter in your area. That person will know how to put pressure onto Animal Control.

[MAK802]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I wouldn't stop at just calling Animal Control. I'd contact an animal activist affiliated with a no-kill shelter in your area. That person will know how to put pressure onto Animal Control.

This, and I would call AC every single day. Once you annoy them enough, they'll do anything to get you off their back. Contact animal rights groups, newspapers, anyone that will listen to get the word out. I'm sure AC would be on top of it if it made the news.