A reader of this site responded to the post about Michael Vick:
This is VERY VERY VERY COMMON in Columbus, Georgia, Phenix City, Alabama, and surrounding area.
I moved to a neighborhood in Columbus a couple of years ago where basically "everybody and their mama" has a pit bull or pit bulls chained up in their yards at about every other house through the whole neighborhood. You know these dogs are used for nothing but fighting.. a lot are scarred up.
The owners NEVER NEVER do anything with these dogs while they are spending so much time outside around their homes.
...
A next door neighbor had a sweet female pit. My male german shepherd fell in love with her. My dog is a house dog. One night he was going off so bad in the house he cracked a window.. I put him outside and walked out with him in the fence...The neighbor's younger resident (late teens to 20"s) was in his adjacent back yard trying to make it fight with another pit bull..I yelled at them that my dog WOULD BE provoked to come over the fence in protection of his "girlfriend".
I called the police.. Of course, nothing happened. The dog was not confiscated. For days the pit was too afraid and unsure to even come visit my dog at the fence in her usual playful way. She eventually "was just gone" and not seen by me again...
I called Animal Control in Columbus (Muscogee County) where I know people on a personal basis...I was informed......."We have tried and tried to "bust" these dogfighters here....Every single time we were going to do a "raid" and make arrests, THEY (the fighters) WERE FOREWARNED and the attempts were unsuccessful."
"If you ever call about fighting dogs, DO NOT EVEN TALK TO DISPATCHERS, BUT TO ONLY ONE SPECIFIC PERSON...." and this one specific person did not seem to have the trust of the poundmaster who told me this.
Young men walk the streets daily through here with pit bulls... after dark
when my dogs are outside I hear them talking and encouraging their dogs and my dogs to "aggravate each other"...
Police see these people daily with all these pits. ANIMAL CONTROL I have seen ONLY ONCE in almost 3 years patrol this neighborhood.
Dog fighting occurs in the street here around traffic, around children on the pretense of "OOOPS... My pit bull somehow got out of my yard and started fighting with your pit bull you were walking down the street with"...
I suspect these are pre-arranged betted on fights, as well. People STEAL dogs in this neighborhood to fight with and bait fighting dogs with. A lot of these pits run loose at night.
I say all this to make a point...NOTHING IS GOING TO STOP THE FIGHTERS HERE until corrupt individuals in city government here (including folks who work for the city here and have FAMILY HERE fighting dogs) including police, special enforcement, etc.
Thank you for listening.
Deborah Green
