Amazon.com supports animal cruelty - Part III

June 7, 5:00 PMSeattle Pet Laws ExaminerJean-Pierre Ruiz

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The results of a dog fight

In two previous blogs (www.examiner.com/examiner/x-9726-Seattle-Pet-Laws-Examiner~y2009m5d29-Amazoncom-supports-animal-cruelty; www.examiner.com/examiner/x-9726-Seattle-Pet-Laws-Examiner~y2009m6d3-Amazoncom-supports-animal-cruelty--Part-II), I provided a list of certain material sold on Amazon.com which depicts acts of animal cruelty. This material also “teaches” people how to breed, raise and train animals to fight. In these articles, I reviewed the suit filed against Amazon.com by the Humane Society of the United States (“HSUS”) based, among others, on the Animal Welfare Act and the Federal Depiction of Animal Cruelty Act. I also reviewed Amazon.com’s response that it has a right to sell the material under the First Amendment to the US Constitution (i.e., Free Speech clause). I then reviewed US v. Stevens, a case now before the US Supreme Court involving the Federal Depiction of Animal Cruelty Act and the First Amendment. I also provided some data linking animal cruelty to violence against human beings. Lastly, I postulated that, regardless of whether Amazon.com is found to have violated the law, and whether or not the law is constitutional, Amazon.com should remove such material on the basis of ethics and morality. In this last part, I provide some facts about animal cruelty and its impact on society.

Definition of animal cruelty

 Animal cruelty can be divided into two categories. Namely: 1) neglect; and, 2) intentional cruelty. This article explores the latter, and more specifically animal fighting.

 All 50 states have animal anti-cruelty laws. Most violations are treated as misdemeanors but 30 states treat certain forms of animal cruelty as felonies. In addition, there are a number of federal animal anti-cruelty laws (e.g., parts of the Animal Welfare Act; the Federal Depiction of Animal Cruelty Act; etc.). While none of the laws define the term “animal cruelty” in the same way, a common thread among them is that they describe a behavior which is socially unacceptable and intentionally causes unnecessary pain, suffering, or distress to an animal, or its death. Legislators struggle with the term in an attempt to exclude “accepted” practices, such as hunting, medical experiments, certain agriculture practices (e.g., veal cages), etc..

Animal cruelty and the link to human violence

It is often said that violence begets violence. Data tends to prove that people who perform acts of cruelty to animals, have a tendency to commit acts of violence against people.

In fact, the Federal Bureau of Investigations has recognized the animal cruelty-human violence link since the 1970s as its analysis of serial killers (e.g., Jeffrey Dhamer; Ted Bundy; David Berkowitz; Albert Disalvo, aka the Boston Strangler; Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine high school shooters; etc.) showed that most had tortured and/or killed animals before moving on to people. A review of the data shows that:

• The largest single survey to date of serial killers found:

              o 36% admitted to committing animal cruelty as children
              o 46% admitted to committing animal cruelty as adolescents
              o 36% admitted to committing animal cruelty as adults

• A 1997 study by the North Eastern University and the Massachusetts SPCA showed that animal abusers are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people than non-animal abusers.
• The same study showed animal abusers are four times more likely to commit property crimes than non-animal abusers.
• Up to 75% of victims of domestic violence had their partner threaten or kill a family pet.
• A survey of the 50 largest shelters for battered women found that 85% of women and 63% of children in the shelters discussed incidents of pet abuse in the family.
• 32% of victims of domestic abuse who were also pet owners, reported that their child had hurt or killed a pet.
• A recent study of 9 school shootings reported that 5 out of the 11 perpetrators had histories of alleged animal abuse.
• A Canadian Police study found that 70% of people arrested for animal cruelty had past records of other violent crimes, including homicide.
• Of 332 animal cruelty arrests studied by the Chicago Police Department,
  o 70% of suspects had arrests on felony charges (including two homicides)
  o 86% of suspects had multiple arrests
  o 70% of suspects had narcotics charges (68% of which were for sales or trafficking)
  o 65% of suspects had been charged with battery-related violent offenses
  o 27% of suspects had previous firearms charges
  o 13% of suspects had been arrested on sex crime charges
  o 59% of suspects were alleged gang members
• A Massachusetts study of 153 animal abusers found that within 10 years of their arrest, 70% were charged with other crimes:
  o 38% were charged with violent crimes
  o 44% percent were charged with property crimes
  o 37% percent were charged with drug offenses
  o 37% percent were charged with disorderly offenses

Animal fighting facts

Dog fighting involves two dogs, which have been bred, reared and trained to fight. The animals are placed in a circular pit to fight to the death. The fight, which may last up to 4 hours, continues until one of the dogs dies, or neither of the dogs can continue.

Dogs will rarely fight to death, particularly for no reason, unless trained to do so. In the case of fighting dogs, they are trained with bait animals, which are often puppies and cats. Most of these are either stolen, or acquired through “free pet to good home” ads. Dog handlers create painful stimuli in order to provoke the dog’s aggression prior to the fight, such as by sewing bottle caps into the dog’s skin or burning the dog’s pads.

Dogs which run away from an opponent cause their handlers embarrassment and loss of reputation. As such, handlers will often electrocute the dog as punishment using a car battery or other crude methods. Losers are beaten before being abandoned to die.

According to the HSUS, in 2007:

• Approximately 250,000 dogs (not including bait animals) were placed in dog fighting pits nationwide.
• Approximately 40,000 people were involved in organized dogfighting and an additional 100,000 were involved as street-level, or unorganized, fighters.

As in dog fighting, in cockfighting two roosters, bred, reared and trained to fight, are placed in a pit. The fight, which may last a few seconds up to half-an-hour, continues until one of the animals is dead or unable to continue. Sometimes, both animals die from their injuries. Birds fight with “gaffes” attached to their legs. Gaffes are razor-sharp 3” to 6” long curved blades made with steel or plastic.

As with dogs, birds which run away from an opponent cause their handlers embarrassment and loss of reputation. As such, handlers have been observed slamming the birds into walls as punishment. Usually, the loser is often simply abandoned causing it to suffer from its injuries, starvation or dehydration for up to several days before mercifully dying. At raids, officials have found injured, live animals trapped at the bottom of trash barrels under the bodies of dead animals.

As the picture above can attest, during fights, both dogs and birds suffer painful, disfiguring and debilitating injuries. These include:

• Lacerations
• Ruptured organs
• Broken or severed limbs
• Gouged eyes
• Punctured lungs
• Head injuries
• Broken necks and backs
• Internal bleeding
• Shock
• Partial or full paralysis

Fighting birds and dogs, as well as fight paraphernalia, is sold through animal fighting magazines, such as the Feathered Warrior sold on Amazon.com. A “top” dog can cost as much as $25,000-$40,000. Fighting birds and dogs are typically injected with speed, steroids and other substances before the fight, including blood-clotting drugs expressly designed and marketed, in magazines such as sold by Amazon.com, to ensure that gravely wounded animals will fight longer.

Animal fighting and its cost to society

Despite laws against it, dogfighting has been reported in urban, suburban and rural settings across the US. Spectators come from a diverse background and audiences consist of the poor and uneducated, but also the wealthy and educated, as demonstrated by the arrest of former Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback Michael Vick.

Of course, this is not all done for simple “entertainment” purposes. Rather, lots of money changes hands throughout the fights. In addition to entry fees and prize money, each year, hundreds of millions of dollar reportedly are illegally bet on animal fights. Dog fight raids have resulted in the seizure of more than $500,000 at each fight, and it is not unusual for $20,000-$30,000 to change hands in a single fight. Of course, no winnings are reported to the IRS. Because so much money changes hand, it is an ideal medium for laundering money. Additionally, drug possession, rape, illegal weapon possession, and murders have been associated with animal fighting.

Fighting dogs have been known to escape their surrounding causing injuries or death to other animals and humans. The most celebrated case is perhaps that of Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel, in which two Presa Canarios/mastiff mixes escaped from Marjorie and mauled a neighbor to death. Knoller and Noel, attorneys specializing in criminal defense, had obtained the dogs from an inmate in state prison, whom they had adopted. The inmate, members of the Aryan Brotherhood, had planned to start a dog fighting ring while in jail. The male dog weighed 140 pounds, while the female weighed over 113 pounds, which was more than the victim weighed. Interestingly, immediately following reports of the incident, the US Presa Canario Club reported a 400% increase in interest from people wanted to acquire a Presa Canario puppy (!).

As the picture included in this blog attests, there is little justification for acts of pure cruelty and barbarity performed on animals who have no choice and suffer great pain before death. Nor can there be any justification, economic or legal under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, for the sale of material depicting such heinous and unwarranted acts.

In the end, perhaps the biggest cost to our society, is the belief that we are a “civilized” society while allowing such acts.
 

For more info:

• Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal Violence: Readings in Research and Application, F. Ascione;
• Children and Animals: Exploring the Roots of Kindness, F. Ascione;
• Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Animal Abuse: Linking the Circles of Compassion for Prevention and Intervention, F. Ascione and P. Arkow;
• Delinquency and Animal Cruelty: Myths and Realities about Social Pathology, S. R. Goodney Lea;
• Linking Animal Cruelty and Family Violence, L. A. Zilney; Risk factors in school shootings. Clinical Psychology Review 29 (1), Verlinden, S., Herson, M., and Thomas, J.
• Sexual homicides: Patterns and motives, R. Ressler, A. Burgess, J. Douglas
• Experiences and needs of adult protective services case managers when assisting clients who have companion animals. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect 12(3/4), B. W. Boat and J. C. Knight
• Statistical Summary of Offenders Charged with Crimes against Companion Animals, July 2001-July 2004. Chicago Police Department
• Physical cruelty toward animals in Massachusetts, 1975-1996. Society and Animals 5(3), A. Arluke, A. and C. Luke
  
• ASPCA, Dog fighting FAQ: www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/dog-fighting/dog-fighting-faq.html
• HSUS Dog fighting Fact Sheet: www.hsus.org/hsus_ field/animal_fighting_the_final_round/dogfighting_fact_sheet/
• www.pet-abuse.com