This morning, in an uplifting four-minute segment, The Today Show featured The Bond and The Humane Society of the United States’ End Dogfighting program that's working to combat the rise in urban street fights through community-based outreach to at-risk kids and young men. Ours is a program that saves dogs and saves kids and young adults, too. The dogs are the biggest victims, but the descent into dogfighting never has a good outcome for the people involved either. It’s a dead-end street, with a trail of animal victims left in the wake.
Here’s a link to watch the Today Show piece.
Junebug stole the show and won the hearts of viewers, as a kind of goodwill ambassador for dogs of her type and for the training and educational program we sponsor.
Our work against dogfighting also focuses on strengthening laws and seeing that those laws are properly enforced. We’ve systematically upgraded anti-animal fighting laws state by state and in Congress. In the 50 states, there is no legal refuge for organized animal fighting, and that’s as it should be. Dogfighting is a felony in every state, and participants should beware.
The HSUS's rewards programs and tip lines, as well as our training of law enforcement, are making a difference every day. Recently, we paid out our 90th reward for information leading to the arrest of an illegal animal fighter.
In the process of stopping dogfighting, we also hope to redeem the image of pit bulls, so wrongly sullied by people who mold them in all the wrong ways. The truth is that they are wonderful dogs, and, as Junebug demonstrated in the Today Show piece, their best qualities flourish when they get the love and affection they so richly deserve.
P.S. If you have a car or other vehicle you’re no longer using, please consider donating your vehicle to support our End Dogfighting program.
Crossposted on A Humane Nation.
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