June 25, 2008

TALLAHASSEE -- Across the United States, pit bulls are being forced to fight one another for money. Most of the time, it's an underground ring that could net tens of thousands of dollars to the dogs owner, but now a national program is hoping to stop the fighting by using reward money as incentive.

As the poster child for fighting rings, Winston still holds the scars from his days of being a bait dog to make other dogs more vicious for fighting in the ring.

Less than a year has gone by from his days of being battered, bruised and abused, but now he is making the rounds in Florida for stopping illegal dog fighting.

“You see first hand the horror and damage and destruction and pain that this animal has gone through -- senseless pain,” said Emery Gainey, director of Law Enforcement Relations and Victim Services.

Together with the Humane Society of the United States, Florida is getting the word out about a new program that offers a $5,000 reward to anyone giving information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in dog fighting, says Attorney General Bill McCollum.

"We hope that providing a financial incentive will encourage people to come forward and report animal fighters so we can see these people behind bars,” said Jennifer Hobgood, Florida State director of the Southeast Regional Office Humane Society.

Winston’s new owner is relieved that authorities are embracing more ways to make it harder for the illegal sport to continue underground.

"It's fantastic -- it's long overdue,” said Amy Raddar, Winston’s owner. “These dogs, people don't understand the horrendous stuff that is done to these dogs in the name of what they consider sport.”

The HSUS estimates 40,000 people nationwide, are involved in organized dog fighting and more than 250,000 dogs are placed in dogfighting pits each year.
Last year, authorities in Florida investigated at least 25 cases of animal fighting from dogs to birds all across the Sunshine State. But the issue of dog fighting is not an isolated illegal activity, this kid animal abuse is a trigger to other problems and cases of abuse.

"It's a sickening activity that not only abuses animals but keeps the community less safe,” Hobgood said. “Just their presence in the community sometimes will lead to illegal gambling, drugs, and even homicide has been tied to animal fighting."

The sport of dog fighting has been around for years, but has been recently back in the news with the 2007 arrest of Michael Vick. The former NFL star shined the spotlight on a sport that many people don't think is that big a deal.

"Florida agents have been working on this for awhile -- it's an ongoing issue,” Agent Emery Gainey said. “Surely, Mr. Vick's incident brought it to a national level."
While Raddar hates that cases like Vick’s are a reality she said, “but whatever it takes to get it out there that's it's so wrong.”

To lend a hand in ending the problem, Raddar adopted Winston in September 2007 in hopes of rehabbing the dog back to health both mentally and physically.

"He's come a long way and is a little shy and leery of other people,” Raddar said. “He has a ways to go, but he's improving everyday."

Winston still has the “typical fight” scars on his face, head, neck and front legs from his bait days, but as time goes on, Raddar hopes that he'll make a full recovery.
In the meantime, she's more than happy to share her new best friend with the world, as together, they try to stop dog fighting around the country, not only with the monetary reward, but by showing how loving these dogs can be.

"For him to bounce back from that to me is amazing,” Raddar said. “He's so resilient and so loving. He loves kids and loves people."

Winston has some ground to cover before he is completely trusting of other people, especially males, but Raddar continues working with him everyday as she has for the past nine months to help him put the past in the past.

His former life was nothing short horrific -- the details of which caused the Attorney General even to cringe -- however, Winston is pushing through and now Florida has a real dog fighting champion.

The HSUS encourages anyone who has information on illegal animal fighting -- including dog and cock fighting -- to contact their local law enforcement office, and: give them as many details as possible about the suspected animal fighting situation; anonymity is possible while reporting illegal animal fighting to law enforcement; inform the agency about The HSUS's reward program.

For more information on the national reward program, call the HSUS at 202-452-1100 or visit humanesociety.org.

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