Dogfighting Research Articles

A retrospective study of 109 dogs with mandibular fractures

To determine patient factors and fracture morphology of dogs presented with mandibular fractures to a small animal referral centre in South Africa. Patient data on age, sex, breed and aetiology of dogs with mandibular fractures were recorded. The fractures were classified according to the anatomical location, displacement, fracture type, fracture line direction, periodontal pathology, and whether there were teeth in the fracture line or not by evaluation of preoperative radiographs. Clinical observations indicated whether these fractures were open or closed. In total, 109 dogs with 135 mandibular fractures were included in the study. Small breed dogs and dogs less than eight months of age predominated (102/109). Dog fights were the most common aetiology in this study (68/109). The molar region was the most commonly affected region (56/135). Evaluation of the radiographs revealed that transverse (73/135), relatively unstable (116/135), and displaced (112/135) fractures were the most common. The majority of fractures involved teeth in the fracture line (100/135), with the first molar frequently involved (54/135). The majority of fractures were open (104/135). The results obtained from this study may be used to guide patient and fracture morphology selection in biomechanical studies of mandibular fracture repair techniques. Screening of this patient population may inspire the search for new treatment options for mandibular fracture repair in South Africa.

Median sternotomy and ventral stabilisation using pins and polymethylmethacrylate for a comminuted T5 vertebral fracture in a Miniature Schnauzer

A 2.9 kg Miniature Schnauzer was referred to our clinic, the Emergency & Critical Care Medicine Service at the Michigan State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, following a dog fight. Physical examination findings upon admission included multiple thoracic wounds, absence of hindlimb deep pain, and marked Schiff-Sherrington syndrome. Computed tomography imaging revealed thoracic wall penetration and a comminuted T5 vertebral fracture. Thoracic exploration and thoracic wall repair were performed through a median sternotomy. The vertebral fracture was exposed and stabilised intra-thoracically through the same approach using pins and polymethylmethacrylate. The pins were placed percutaneously into the vertebral bodies of the adjacent vertebrae. Recovery was uncomplicated and fracture healing was documented eight weeks postoperatively. Spinal trauma secondary to dog fights is relatively common. The presence of concurrent penetrating thoracic injury negatively affects prognosis and necessitates thoracic exploration as soon as feasible. The approach should allow complete thoracic exploration to repair parietal and visceral damage, thus indicating the need for median sternotomy rather than an intercostal approach. The present case report suggested that median sternotomy can be used to safely apply stabilisation devices for the treatment of concurrent spinal trauma. Direct visualisation of the vertebral bodies permitted optimal implant anchorage as compared to potentially more hazardous techniques such as dorsal pinning.

United States v Stevens: Gnawing Away at Freedom of Speech or Paving the Way for Animal Rights?

This article examines United States v. Stevens, a case recently decided by the Supreme Court, and its relation to animal law and freedom of speech issues, specifically the contention between the two, caused by the statute in question at the heart of the case. While animal rights advocates wish to frame the case through an anti-animal cruelty perspective, those seeking to protect freedom of speech have made the statute an issue of First Amendment rights. Is 18 USC § 48 an imposition on free speech or a step in the right direction towards protection of animals and promotion of their rights? It is argued here that the Supreme Court should have recognized the Stevens case as an important development in animal rights and held that the statute is narrowly tailored, based on a compelling government interest, and that the protection of animals from harm overshadows any possible speech or expression that is found in crush videos, dog fighting videos, and the like.

Selective breeding in fighting dogs

AbstractThe breeding of domestic dogs for dog fighting has resulted in numerous genetic alterations in a breed widely acknowledged to be the most successful fighting dog: the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT). Much of the genetic foundation underlying the motivation and ability for pit fighting can be traced back to the earliest use of dogs for hunting purposes and continued through the selective breeding for use of dogs in wars and bull and bear baiting. In the development of the APBT as a fighting dog, there were two main breeding criteria. The first was, and remains, fighting success. The trait most prized by breeders of fighting dogs and considered most contributory to fighting success is ‘gameness’, which is the perseverance at a task even under extreme adversity, such as injury, pain, or fatigue. The second criterion was the absence of human-directed aggression. Since dogs are handled extensively before, during, and after the fights, dogs that showed aggression toward humans were eliminated from the gene pool. Indeed, anecdotal reports suggest that breeding may have been carried beyond that of simply selecting against human aggressiveness to a degree of enhanced affinity for humans. The result is that today's fight-bred APBT is genetically predisposed — but not predestined — to aggressiveness toward other dogs and a strong social attraction to humans. The human affinity trait is a highly valuable characteristic that ought to be preserved. With the appropriate breeding decisions, the power of genetic selection suggests that this goal, along with normalising the genetic disposition for conspecific aggressive tendencies, should be ultimately achievable.

Sympathetic Reactions to the Bait Dog in a Film of Dog Fighting: The Influence of Personality and Gender

AbstractMedia sources brought international attention to dog fighting during the Michael Vick case. Although a significant number of people who watched footage of the abused dogs used in the Vick case may have felt sympathy for them, the characteristics associated with those types of individuals are not known. The current study examined personality and gender as predictors of sympathetic reactions to the mistreatment of a bait dog depicted in a film clip. The results supported the predictions that animal-oriented sympathy, trait sympathy, agreeableness, and gender would predict sympathetic reactions to the bait dog. The analyses showed that trait sympathy could not explain unique variance beyond animal-oriented sympathy, but that agreeableness fully mediated the relation between gender and sympathetic reactions to the bait dog. Unexpectedly, emotional stability was also a unique predictor. Implications and limitations of these results are discussed.

Clinical Anatomy and Surgical Repair of Prepubic Hernia in Dogs and Cats

Prepubic hernia is a traumatic hernia in small animals, most often associated with severe trauma to the caudal abdomen. Common causes include vehicular trauma, dog fights, and kicks by large animals. Rupture of the prepubic tendon in dogs and of its equivalent in cats results in a ventral abdominal hernia. Due to the traumatic nature of the injury, concurrent injuries are frequently seen. Clinical signs of herniation are often nonspecific, and the resultant hernia may not be readily apparent during routine physical examination. This being so, diagnosis is often based on a thorough physical examination in conjunction with abdominal radiography and, possibly, abdominal ultrasonography. Multiple methods of repair of prepubic hernia have been reported, and survival rates are quite good if concurrent injuries are not severe.

Dog fight: Darwin as animal advocate in the antivivisection controversy of 1875

The traditional characterization of Charles Darwin as a strong advocate of physiological experimentation on animals was posited in Richard French’s Antivivisection and medical science in Victorian England (1975), where French portrayed him as a soldier in Thomas Huxley’s efforts to preserve anatomical experimentation on animals unfettered by government regulation. That interpretation relied too much on, inter alia, Huxley’s own description of the legislative battles of 1875, and shared many historians’ propensity to foster a legacy of Darwin as a leader among a new wave of scientists, even where personal interests might indicate a conflicting story. Animal rights issues concerned more than mere science for Darwin, however, and where debates over other scientific issues failed to inspire Darwin to become publicly active, he readily joined the battle over vivisection, helping to draft legislation which, in many ways, was more protective of animal rights than even the bills proposed by his friend and anti-vivisectionist, Frances Power Cobbe. Darwin may not have officially joined Cobbe’s side in the fight, but personal correspondence of the period between 1870 and 1875 reveals a man whose first interest was to protect animals from inhumane treatment, and second to protect the reputations of those men and physiologists who were his friends, and who he believed incapable of inhumane acts. On this latter point he and Cobbe never did reach agreement, but they certainly agreed on the humane treatment of animals, and the need to proscribe various forms of animal experimentation.

The <i>New York Clipper</i> and Sporting Weeklies of Its Time

New York Clipper, founded in 1853, was not America's first sporting paper. Although it carried a report of a baseball game in its first year of operation, it was not the first paper to do so. It was never all about baseball, or even primarily so. Yet more than any other publication, the Clipper may be said to have transformed a boys' game into the national pastime.Three essential ingredients will facilitate the growth from localized game to national sport. First, gambling. Adults must care about the outcome, and their willingness to place a wager is a measure of their interest. As a game matures, investors and civic boosters may pool their interests to absorb greater risk, placing their bets on the protracted success of an athlete, a club, or a sporting venture. Second, publicity. Regular press coverage is a necessary development to waftthe passion exhibited at a single contest, however it may have been fueled, to those only reading about it afterward. Third, statistics. Whether merely game scores or primitive tabulations, these numerical attachments to prose reports accord a mantle of importance to the matches-an importance like that of trade or transport or government.Before baseball came to dominate the sporting scene in the last quarter of the 19th century, these three elements had previously advanced, with differing levels of success, the interests of other sports: the turf, the ring, sculling, cricket, and blood sports (ratting, baiting, cockfighting, dog fighting). Whether the crowd drawn by the activity was low or genteel, the ingredients and the progression were the same. To place in context how the Clipper advanced the status of baseball, let's examine briefly the sporting papers that paved its way. These were concerned with, variously, hunting, angling, pugilism, pedestrianism (race or distance walking), and most of all horseracing.Despite the nationwide surge of interest during the Jacksonian era in newspapers and magazines touching upon all topics-from politics to religion, from literature to commerce-sporting coverage lagged. Devotees of turf, ring, field, and stream had to await the arrival of the weekly Bell's Life in London (founded in 1822). Baltimorean John Stuart Skinner established, in 1819, American Farmer, the first agricultural journal in this country; for its pages in 1825 he penned the nation's first turf column, The Sporting Olio. Four years later he replaced American Farmer with the monthly American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine, which thus became America's first enduring sporting paper.1According to John Hankins Wallace in Horse of America in His Derivation, History and Development, Skinner sought for his new publication an encyclopedic status:As its name indicated its field, it at once became the authority on sporting events and the receptacle of a great amount of valuable correspondence on the horses of the day, as well as the earlier race horses. Mr. Skinner was industrious in collecting material for his magazine, but unfortunately he published whatever was sent to him relating to the horse, and just as it was sent. If a communication was well written, no difference how many errors of fact it might contain, it never seemed to occur to Mr. Skinner to use his blue pencil. Pedigrees were sent in, amounting to many thousands, during his ownership, with fictitious and untruthful remote extensions, and published without any possibility of tracing the different crosses to a known or responsible source or name.... magazine received less and less attention from its proprietor each succeeding year and finally it was transferred to the Spirit of the Times, of New York, and died after an existence of some fifteen years [Sept. 1829-Dec. 1844].2Skinner's indifference to fact would continue to plague sporting papers, and the sporting sections of dailies, for generations to come, as the standards of self-promotion and humbuggery were more readily met than those of journalism. …

ASAS CENTENNIAL PAPER: Perspectives on domestication: The history of our relationship with man's best friend

We are a nation of dog lovers. Never before in our history have we spent more time, money, and emotional energy on a group of animals that are kept solely for companionship. Pet food sales are a multi-billion dollar industry, and pet owners are spending more than 11 billion dollars each year on veterinary care. This devotion is further illustrated by the exponential growth of the pet supply industry, including increasing numbers of pet superstores, play-parks, training centers, and doggie day care centers. During the 1980s, recognition of the human-animal bond led to serious study of the roles that dogs play in our lives. These studies have shown that pets provide significant benefits to our emotional, physical, and social well being. It is ironic then, that at a time when we recognize and appreciate our bonds with animal companions, dark elements of this relationship are equally pervasive. Animal shelters in the United States kill between 3 and 4 million dogs and cats annually. Dog fighting, although outlawed, has reached epidemic proportions in some areas of the country. Episodes of animal cruelty and neglect are reported with alarming frequency in the media; so frequently that discussions of the connection between animal cruelty and human violence have become daily parlance. How then did we come to have such paradoxical perceptions and treatment of our canine companions? This question is explored through an examination of the ancestry of the dog and the prevailing myths and facts about domestication. Historical and present-day perceptions of the wolf and the impact that these attitudes may have upon perceptions of dogs are examined.

Forensic aspects of animal abusing

Animal abuse is important social issue, which includes a wide range of behaviors of humans that are harmful to animals, starting from unintentional neglect to intentional cruelty. Types of animal abuse are different and they can include physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect. Training dogs for fights and dog fighting are considered to be neglection of animals. Forensic veterinarians are called for testifining more often now for presenting the evidence that can lead to making a case regarding animal abuse. This study will include an explanation of forensic vet's role and different types of animal abuse.

Healing the Hand that Feeds You: Exploring Solutions for Dog and Community Health and Welfare in Australian Indigenous Cultures

The overpopulation and poor state of dog health in many rural and remote Australian Indigenous communities (RRAIC) affects not only animal welfare but human social welfare. Dogs are an integral part of Australian Indigenous cultures and impact on human health and welfare through zoonotic diseases, and mental health concerns such as worry and shame about pet health, and sleep deprivation from incessant dog fights. This study investigates the factors that contribute to poor animal and...

The Discourse of Dog Fighting

In this essay, we discuss dog fighting as a blood sport with a history embedded in the status-driven display of masculinity, power and violence. Based on published reports and interviews with those living and working in dog fighting neighborhoods, we show that the contemporary cultural knowledge of dog fighting is a discourse with multiple meanings: for those who pit dogs against each other, for the worried public, for those who are charged with law enforcement, and for the dogs themselves. We conclude with an argument that the discourse of dog fighting might best be approached from the perspective of green criminology with a focus on those who are most abused by the crime: the fighting dogs.

Biting dogs in Rome (Italy)

We present data on dog biting events which occurred in Rome and were recorded by the Public Dog Shelter and Veterinary Hospital of Rome. In Italy the control of rabies is regulated by Presidential Decree. Recently, the endorsement of a National Law, aimed at the prevention of dog and cat straying, has greatly modified the relationship with, and the management of, domestic animals in the urban environment. The management of biting and in general of aggression, is therefore no longer seen as only a public health and policy problem but also as critical to human–animal interaction in society. The Public Dog Shelter and Veterinary Hospital of Rome received 1576 biting reports from September 2003 to August 2004. Our survey was conducted on 290 dogs of various breeds and their owners. Data were collected on breed, sex, and age of the dog, on its living conditions, and on the circumstances of the aggression. The vast majority of bites occurred among family members or in familiar places, when the owner did not adopt precautions (lead, muzzle) prescribed by law. The owner was often incapable of handling the animal correctly in particular circumstances such as during occasional dog fights or the person had been bitten when they entered the animal's territory without warning. Thirty-one cases of severe aggression underwent a more detailed ethological investigation of the dogs and interview of the owner. The vast majority of them were ‘spoiled’ and/or were allowed to act as a dominant animal. On the basis of these results, it is clear that there is a need to modify the evaluation criteria of biting animals, from a solely medical-orientated approach to a more complex ethological approach in order to establish the correct human–animal relationship.

Business Acquisition - A Non-Cooperative Game Theoretic Approach

Game theory is an intuitive tool that has long been used in defining the business strategies in Corporate America. This paper posits the applicability of the game theory framework to a bidding war concerning an asset sale. The paper treats a bankruptcy auction process as a non-cooperative game and argues that game theory can be used to predict the winner of the auction. Using the example of the dog fight between rivals in the airline industry scrambling over the carcass of an ailing competitor to gain control of a strategically important market, the analysis proves that it would be the market leader that would have gained the most from the transaction and would be willing to pay a premium for assets that in the hands of competition could only harm its leading position in the highly competitive industry. A specific example has been used to portray similar situations when it may be sensible for the industry leader to outbid competition to sustain its leadership position. The analysis is useful for consultants advising sellers in similar settings to negotiate for a better deal or buyers to justify paying a premium for future gains. One may also conclude that game theory can form a strong basis when negotiating transactions to justify a market leader paying an extra premium to rationalize an acquisition.

Vuitton Has a ‘Dog’ in the Fight

High fashion has gone to the dogs – literally, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was asked to referee the recent dog fight. We all know Louis Vuitton, the French purveyor of fine and very expensive luggage, shoes, watches and whatever. Do we also know that “whatever” includes pricey dog collars, leashes and carriers? Ah, the French; they love their dogs.Enter Haute Diggity Dog, a manufacturer and distributor of designer dog collars and other pet goodies. Recently, HDD caught the eye and ire of Louis Vuitton when it launched a series of designer collars it called Chewy Vuiton.Those familiar with the real Louis Vuitton knows that its products bear the multiple interlocking LV initials, usually on every square inch of the exposed plastic-coated surface. To pull off its parody on the famous Louis Vuitton trademark, HDD marked its collars with a CV logo and sold them under the mark Chewy Vuiton. It was not as though Louis Vuitton was above selling doggie fashions – it was not. But this imitation was more than Louis Vuitton could bear and it filed suit against HDD and its retailer alleging copyright and trademark infringement.The author elaborates further on the merits, arguments, nuances, and the outcome of this case.

"If you do not gamble, check this box": perceptions of gambling behaviors.

Most adults in the U.S. have participated in one or more gambling activities. However, many people engage in gambling activities without considering themselves as gamblers. Four hundred and forty-nine university students returned surveys about their participation in gambling activities. After completing a questionnaire recording the style and frequency of gambling participated in, respondents were asked to indicate whether or not they gambled. Results indicated that gamblers participated in twice as many forms of gambling activities as those who classified themselves as non-gamblers. Scratch tickets and lottery tickets were not generally considered gambling unless purchased frequently. Casino visits, bingo, dog races, football pools, golf matches, local poker games, and other card games were more likely to be viewed as gambling, especially when engaged in frequently. Subjects who had gambled on at least one occasion with bookies, dice games, video poker in a bar, dog or cock fights, or off track betting almost always identified themselves as gamblers. It is recommended that further research be conducted to clarify the gambling activities, and frequency of those activities, that influence a person's perceptions of gambling.

Digitized Images on the Web: A Starring Role in Curriculum Support

Student focus groups and surveys indicate that students have a high level of interest and satisfaction using the tools that information technology offers medical education. One student put it this way, “No dog fight for slides and having sets disappear the night before exams is a definite plus!”

Aggressive conflicts amongst dogs and factors affecting them

Over one year, 206 dog owners were questioned in a veterinary clinic. The survey included two groups: 151 owners who visited the clinic because of an injury to their dog caused by another dog and 55 people who owned dogs that caused injuries to others. The questioning served to compare aggressors and victims of dog fights. The form contained 43 questions concerning the dog, the owner, and the incident of intraspecific aggression. The results reveal that both groups, victim and aggressor, showed regularities regarding the breeds, gender, and process of the fight. Important factors include housing conditions, criteria concerning the selection of a dog, and the dog's training. Significant differences were found comparing the owners of aggressors and their victims, including the owner's gender, profession, age, his/her attitude towards dogs, the selection of a specific breed, training methods, the purpose of keeping a dog, and previous experiences owning a dog. Further conclusions were drawn regarding the time and location of the incidents. Their influence on a potential solution to the problem caused by aggressive dogs is discussed.

Pet Ownership and Adults' Views on the Use of Animals

AbstractFour hundred and twenty-two adults completed a postal questionnaire in which they provided information regarding pet ownership and their attitudes toward 13 issues involving the use of animals. Over 63% of the sample owned a household pet, with the dog being the most common. Household pets were more commonly owned by respondents who were married, younger than 65 years of age, living in detached houses, or with a child/children present in the home. Most concern was expressed toward those types of animal uses which lead to death or injury, especially dog fighting. Females expressed more disagreement than males with most of the uses o f animals examined. Dog owners expressed more approval offox-hunting and hare-coursing than non-dog owners, and horse owners expressed more approval offox-hunting than non-horse owners. This study reveals that some of the ways in which people use animals are considered more acceptable than others, and suggests that it is incorrect to group different kinds of animal use into one broad category. The authors argue that future years may see a shift in the way society uses animals, from manipulation toward care for their well-being.

Spontaneous laryngeal disease in the canine.

This report describes the type and incidence of spontaneous laryngeal disease in the dog. Signs of laryngeal disease are similar to those in other species. Dogs are usually presented with inspiratory obstructive dyspnea or stridor, since earlier signs are often missed. Severe, congenital abnormalities may occur unrecognized due to neonatal death. Subtle anomalies are seldom presented. Congenital paralysis of the laryngeal musculature has been seen in the Bouvier des Flandres and the Siberian Husky. Laryngeal obstruction occurs commonly in brachycephalic dogs (Bulldog, Boxer, Boston Terrier, Pug, Pikingese). The forshortened nasal cavity and pharynx result in reduced airway space. The result is inspiratory obstruction varying from noisy respiration to severe obstruction with cyanosis and syncope. Everted laryngeal ventricles are most common in these dogs. Mild degrees of ventricular edema are common in small breed dogs with lower respiratory disease and in field-trial Beagles due to voice abuse. Traumatic injuries to the larynx and hyoid apparatus are not rare. Bite wounds from dog fights are the most common cause. Compression fractures are rare, but injuries associated with shearing stresses, due to being shcken by the neck cause airway obstruction. These types of injuries include avulsion of the aryepiglottic folds, longitudinal tearing of the epiglottis, arytenoid displacement, hyo-laryngeal separation, and laryngotracheal separation. Delayed signs of recurrent nerve damage are common in severe laryngotracheal injuries.