Monday July 17 2000
Breeding Savage Dogfight Winners
Handpicked for Aggression, Trained in Brutality
July 17, 2000
By Brian D. Crecente
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LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. (APBnews.com) -- In the world of dogfighting, victors are made, not born. "The behavior of these dogs is the product of more of than a century of breeding," said Eric Sakach, a dogfighting expert for the Humane Society of the United States since 1977. "It involves suppressing natural instincts so they become genetically inclined not to back down or show signs of submission." Sakach says the dogs are picked for their aggressiveness and size, then are bred to remove the natural instincts that could cause a dog to lose a fight in the pit. "If you look at the ways dogs fight in the wild, it's to drive a rival away or for some desired objects," he said. "Those fights end when a dog displays a sign of submission, like rolling over to expose their stomach." |
Weaker dogs 'weeded out'
And during fights in the wild, he said, dogs rarely do much damage to one another. "There's a lot of growling, staring, raising hair to look bigger. Biting is a last resort," he said. "In pit-fighting dogs, this inhibition has been removed through breeding. They are bred not to give off signs that normal dogs do. In pit fights, they fight to the death or exhaustion."
To ensure their dogs will be good fighters, breeders track bloodlines of fighters, Sakach said. Once they have a litter, breeding for the pit becomes a culling process. "Out of a litter of six pit bulls, only one or two would possess the character or gameness you are looking for," he said. "The rest would be weeded out."
And breeders often bury their mistakes. "They can't drop the dog somewhere because it will follow them back home, and they don't want a failure associated with their yard," Sakach said. "Most of the kennels I have known had bone yards. Two had electrocution devices set up in their garages."
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Dogs matched and trained The first weeding-out process is shortly after birth when breeders remove the dogs that don't exhibit enough aggression. Dogs that make it 16 to 18 months are considered prospects and begin schooling, he said. The young dogs are brought into a pit to fight against other dogs who use different styles of attacks and aren't overly rough. Breeders make sure the dogs win and always praise them, reinforcing their desire to fight. "These dogs are matched and trained, like finely honed athletes, prizefighters," said Palm Beach County sheriff's Deputy Cassie Kovacs, who investigates animal cruelty cases in the county. "It's very good money, big money." After schooling is completed, trainers want to determine the dog's endurance level, or depth of gameness, Sakach said. |
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Little human contact
Game tests can last an hour or more with the prospect taking on dog after dog until it's exhausted. If it survives, it becomes a match dog. "For all intents and purposes, they spend the rest of their lives attached to a heavy chain staked out in someone's back yard," he said. "Up to that point, all they know is fighting, and the only real human contact they get is when they are fed, watered and vaccinated."
All fighting dogs also spend their share of time in "the keep." "The keep is a training program that lasts four to six weeks prior to a fight," Sakach said.
Dogs often dehydrated to bleed less
Training typically includes endless hours on heavy treadmills or running circles in a back yard chasing a lure, days spent running on the road and a special diet meant to trim the dog to a lean pre-determined weight. "Some trainers withhold water to dehydrate their dogs -- the thinking is a dehydrated dog bleeds less," Sakach said. "That, coupled with the incredibly brutal fighting that goes on, often results in the death of the dog in the pit." Kovacs said a single fight could last for hours. "These dogs are mauled for hours, and the losers are often shot in the arena or tied to a brick and thrown in the canal." Sakach said killing a losing dog is "expedient." "This is a money business," he said.