Panorama Dog Fighting undercover - any thoughts?

[iheartruby]

I have just seen the most distressing and vile programme highlighting the undercover world of dog fighting. It saddened me so much to think that people get pleasure from watching dogs tear each other apart. I felt sick to the stomach hearing the stories of what happens to the dogs afterwards - the ones that don't quite make it.
I don't know much about APBs but does anyone feel that they would ever be safe as a pet (that is, if they were legal!). Is it just the mindless, evil thugs who allow them to fight that encourage the aggression that we hear so much about, or are they inherantly aggressive to the point of unprovoked attack? What are the ideas on the future of the breed - is the intention to try to eradicate it in this country?? What are the answers??
Does anyone know anybody who actually enjoys this vile behaviour?
I look forward to hearing everybodies views.

[Leapers]

i cannot believe it either that people would enjoy watching to animals kill each other its not as if they have grudges but dogs are shot if they don't fight and many are tortured before i dont think its right that people get away with such easy sentances if they were caught like a �20 fine or cleaning up the parks dog poop i think a prison sentance would be best becasue they dont have dogs in prisons.
Also the dogs are trying to be eradicated becasue of the inherited characteristics they have it would take many years and accidents to change the breed. but even the nicest of dogs can be nasty if provoked and the cases of attacks on children i wonder if the adults should have been watching more closely to make sure the children are not pulling the dogs tail or ears or somethin surely then you would notice the dogs angry signs and what it doesn't like.

i think its a real shame that an animal that would have so much potential in other areas is being wiped out!!

[iheartruby]

I agree Leapers - even if they do try to eradicate it, surely it would be nigh on impossible. The prgramme said that in Liverpool alone there were many APBs still about. And then what to do about cross breeds?? I can't imagine the trauma of having the authorities taking away a much loved pet.
As I said, I don't know much about the breed but I'm sure they are loving, loyal and obedient like other dogs and it's sad to think that they are all earmarked as bad. I'm certainly no expert but I can't help thinking it's down to the owner. Like with bad kids (god, I'm going off on a tangent now!!) - I often think it's bad parenting.
And how come in other countries they're allowed if they are so bad?
On YouTube there are loads of vids of APBs - lots from people rightly defending the breed that they love. Some very sad ones too of dogs that have been in fights.

[lankeela]

The bottom line is that this breed is illegal and has been since they brought in the Dangerous Dogs Act. In my opinon, the breed would be better off if it were eradicated, if only for the sake of the poor dogs. Better that they are not bred in the first place, than to live a life of pain and cruelty.

[flump1]

I wondered if I would be able to watch this programme as the trailers for it sounded grim. I watched until the coverage of the fights came on, then I had to hit the mute button. I did however hear the account of the death of a dog where its' owner had put it into a fight , the dog was badly injured, the owner then tried unsucsessfully to electrocute it with water and a power supply before taking the miserable remains indoors to ' finish it off'. What absolute barbarism. I would dearly like that man to be put through what he put that dog through. In my naivety I had ideas of how the fights are rigged ,I was shocked by the poor animals' final minutes.

[andy-hughes]

The point that struck me is how many individuals prove that owners do come to look like their dogs.

APB's appear as an ugly insensitive useless pointless brainless brutish overweight lumps of bone, fat and teeth with glazed eyes and low foreheads.

Case rested.

[horsestache1]

I'd like to put these dog fighting supporters, one at a time in a pit with a whole bunch of dogs, and let the dogs rip them to pieces. though I think even this is too good for them.

[andrea81]

It's true that some breeds can do more damage and I suppose thats why pit bulls are fighting dogs, but i believe that the owner make the dog what it is.

We've had staffy's in our family for years and their reputation used to be bad. They're very docile and were once called 'night nurses' as they used to use them to watch over children at night.

So really as long as there are people willing to use these dogs, the future of the breed looks bad!

[horselady]

I'm afraid I took the coward's way out and didn't watch it. I knew it would really get to me. I detest such people.

[Stardust77]

Just like the Spanish Bulls for the Corrida, the pitbull is a fighting dog bred for this sole purpose. Without the Corrida, those bulls would have no purpose. The pitbull IS a fighting dog and those who organise dog fights try to breed them to find the ultimate fighter. Those dogs are designed to kill and the best dogs are bred to insure maximum damage: from their physical abilities to their agressive behaviour.
Unlike the bulls however, dogs have more use and can be great pets in the right hands. However, because of their natural abilities, they ARE dangerous dogs and should not be left in the wrong hands. It is imperative for this dog to become a pet to have a owner who has the ability to tame them and control them. Because it is hard to control owners and their responsabilities, it is preferable to ban this breed. In France, the Pitbull has been banned, but it doesnt mean we have euthenised them all as this would be very unfair for the dogs. Instead, since 2000, Pitbull owners have to have their dogs neutered so that the breed comes to extinction on its own. The government hopes that all pitbulls in France would disappear in 10 years. It is sad to see this breed disappear, but is it not sadder to see people use them and make them fight and kill each other? If it is what the breed is made for, then it is very unfair for these dogs to exist in the first place, if us as humans, cant find a better use for them. I think they could be great police dogs as the police could be the only people capable of handling those dogs with the right purpose. So long as us humans will not find it in our hearts to have those dogs in a humane manner, their is no point breeding those dogs. I watched the panorama programm and it made me really sick and sad to see, not what those dogs do, but what we, so called humans, do to them.