Controversy around violent video games is nothing new, but now a shocking cell phone game exists that marries animal cruelty with video game violence. KG Dogfighting is a game that allows the player to virtually train dogs to fight against other players’ dogs. Despite the cruel nature of the game, Google refuses to remove it from its cell phone application marketplace.

Dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states because of the cruel nature of this “sport” in which dogs must fight until they are too injured to continue, or until one of the dogs dies. Injured dogs are often used as bait to excite other fighting dogs. To make matters worse, statistics show that people who abuse animals are exponentially more likely to harm human beings. This behavior shouldn’t be encouraged–even in game form. Tell Google to remove this game from their marketplace.

Hopefully once this is banned, the game for ipone and android will follow!

Sign the petition here: No More Playing around with dog fighting!

• Henry McDonald , Ireland editor
• The Observer, Sunday 27 July 2008
• Article history

He was once branded the ‘dog of death’ by a British tabloid. These days Raymond, a pit bull terrier, jumps and frolics playfully outside an Irish cottage that is offering a safe haven for dogs under death sentences in the UK.

The pup gained national notoriety this year when he was bought online by a British Sunday newspaper from underground dealers in fighting dogs. Like others, Raymond is illegal in Great Britain and could be put down at any time because of the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991, which banned the breeding, sale or exchange of pit bull terriers and some other breeds.

The hyperactive ginger pit bull has now been ‘rescued’ and relocated to an isolated corner of Co Galway, where pit bulls and other dogs in danger live in exile. His saviour is German-born dog-lover Sara Gunther, who has turned her rented cottage into a refuge for breeds that are banned in Britain as well as dogs that Irish owners have either neglected, starved or exploited. On arrival, Gunther nervously asks for ID cards to verify who the strangers at her door are.

‘I have to check you out because of the Farmers’ Boys,’ she said, referring to a notorious gang running illegal dog-fighting rings in Ireland. The Ulster Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals labelled the group the ‘Manchester United of the dog-fighting world’.

‘They know that I have pit bulls here, some of whom come from fighting stock,’ added Gunther. ‘I have received threats on mobile phones that these gangsters want my dogs and will take them from me.’ She pleads that The Observer does not print the precise location of where she lives with 22 rescued dogs and her four-year-old son. ‘I have to protect myself and my family,’ she adds.

Gunther says that she grew up with pit bulls in Frankfurt. She says this is why she has no problem allowing her son to play with dogs that have such a fearsome reputation on the other side of the Irish Sea.

‘The only dog that ever attacked me in my entire life was a golden labrador, but no one in the media will ever do a report about someone being attacked by an Andrex puppy lookalike,’ she added, as Raymond leaped around with a fellow rescued pit bull named Bowie, after the rock star.

Gunther revealed that her cottage is home to yet another pit bull media star. Nipper was sold to Panorama, the BBC’s investigative current affairs show, during a programme on dog-fighting rings. An undercover reporter bought Nipper from European pit bull dealer Paul Dunkel in Helsinki. Nipper was described on the programme as a lethal dog descended from a legendary Texan fighting dog called Little Killer. He was subsequently sold to the documentary makers but has ended up, Gunther claimed, at her sanctuary to avoid being put down.

‘My son is four and he plays with Nipper,’ she said. ‘I am even able to foster him out part-time. Nipper has more scars and injuries than any of the other dogs we look after, but he sits and watches cartoons with my son.’

Asked if she was prepared to take in more pit bulls and other illegal breeds that face being destroyed in the UK, Gunther replied: ‘I have to be very clear about this. I will not break the law in Britain, so I won’t go over and take a dog there. But if someone comes to Ireland with a dog and hands it over here to me in the Republic, then that is different.’

The organisation that speaks for rank-and-file Irish police officers, the Garda Representative Association, is currently campaigning for an Irish version of the UK’s Dangerous Dogs Act brought in by John Major’s government in 1991. The GRA highlighted the lack of legislation after one of its members was subjected to a ferocious attack by a pit bull terrier in Galway earlier this year. The officer had to receive more than 100 stitches during a raid on a house in the city when he was savaged by the dog belonging to a suspected drug dealer.

The prospect of an Irish Dangerous Dogs Act which would outlaw certain breeds like pit bulls horrifies Gunther. She pointed to her T-shirt, which reads ‘Deed Not Breed’, referring to a campaign that fights against ‘breed-specific legislation’. Gunther argued that legislation would only drive the problem underground and result in dogs such as Nipper and Raymond being put down ‘just because of their looks’.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/27/ireland.wildlife

Municipal governments from New York City to Miami, and from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Denver, have responded to fear of pit bulls and similar breeds of dogs, by severely restricting their ownership or banning them entirely from their jurisdictions.  Now, thanks to a rule issued recently by the U.S. Department of Justice, such actions are subject to being struck down.  Jurisdictions now considering such overreactions, such as Douglasville, Georgia, would be well-advised to review the Justice Department’s opinion before proceeding.

Dog owners and humane societies have long-opposed such arbitrary and overly broad laws that penalize thousands of pit bull owners who maintain their canine companions properly and without incident, because of a small number who fail to properly train and control the dogs.  Courts generally have permitted such ordinances to stand, based on deference to the so-called “police power” of local governments to protect the public “safety and welfare.”

The 20-year old, federal Americans With Disabilities Act (”ADA”), however, may put a stop to such “breed-specific legislation.”  The ADA protects measures designed to help persons with disabilities, which includes dogs used by disabled persons for assistance.  Laws that outlaw ownership of entire breeds, including those that might be used for assistive purposes, would limit the ability of persons with disabilities to use such pets, and would therefore violate the ADA and be deemed by the Justice Department to be unlawful.

In what some might consider a rare example of the federal government recognizing that laws can be overly broad and therefore harmful to individual liberty, the Justice Department’s opinion on breed-specific legislation noted that such laws sweep too broadly; and that it is inappropriate to outlaw an entire breed of dogs because a small number cause problems.  Such problems are the result of owners not restraining their dogs properly or inadequately training them, rather than the result of a particular breed’s disposition, and can be addressed by more narrowly-crafted legislation.

Unfortunately, there are still those, like the mayor of Douglasville, Georgia, who favor overly restrictive measures.  The mayor recently noted in support of the city’s proposed pit bull ordinance, that he had no problem singling out pit bulls, because he sees them “on TV” causing “incidents.”    One would hope that local government officials might on their own possess some understanding of limited government and individual liberty; but if the Justice Department at least in this instance will ensure that they do so by way of a federal law, then the feds are serving as an important check on excessive government power.

Read the comments and see the original article here

The Observer

A group of dog owners set up camp at Sarnia’s city hall Monday to protest Ontario’s ban on pit bulls.

“Basically, it’s not right to be cruel to animals,” said Josh Atkinson, organizer and owner of Justice, a five-year-old pit bull.

“The City of Sarnia and a lot of other cities in Ontario are killing dogs for no apparent reason whatsoever, just because of the name pit bull. It’s ridiculous.”

A dozen people were on hand with their pets and homemade signs, reading: “Stop the killing of our pets,” “Pitbulls have rights, too,” and “Pitbulls are family.”
The group also planned to protest at the Sarnia and District Humane Society.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said the demonstrators were barking up the wrong tree.

“It’s provincial legislation — not the city, or the humane society. They should be at the MPP’s office, he said.

“I don’t even agree with the legislation myself, but we have to enforce it.”

The 2005 Ontario Dog Owners Liability Act says any Staffordshire bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, American pit bull terriers and any dog that looks “substantially similar” is illegal, and only those already living in the province at the time of the ban are allowed.

Bradley said the law has been a stress on animal control workers, noting that he preferred the city’s previous ‘dangerous dog’ bylaw, which dealt with the animals on a case-by-case basis, rather than by breed.

Last year Sarnia made a pledge to consult an expert before putting any more dogs on death row. The move followed a number of confusing cases hinging on whether or not the dogs were pit bulls, or boxers, while officials admitted to euthanizing at least one dog every month, because of the ban.

“It’s very fuzzy legislation; the province passed it, but now they have no involvement in the law itself,” said Bradley. “In fact, I’d like to go join those protesters, myself.”

Article found at: http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2540872

Im also going to Mexico for 2 weeks starting Sunday! (14th,june). Its going to be intersting. Ill be staying with a family and hopefully traveling around Mexico City and the surrounding area. Fun! Wish me not robbed by the police!

“I am writing in response to the regular position of some of your writers in support of Breed Specific Legislation. When people say that pit bulls are dangerous, they are making a generalization, just as insurance companies use generalizations when they charge young men more for car insurance. Generalizing what “pit bulls” are capable of, or any other breed, is profiling, a practice frowned upon in the human world and no fairer for canines. Contrary to these generalizations, there are a lot of pit bulls who are licensed therapy dogs and in a drill by the American Temperament Test Society to test temperament, “pit bull’s” rated 85% positive ahead of “family dogs” such as Airedales and Beagles. Also, some governments are finding out that BSL laws just don’t work. Holland and Italy have after many years of seeing no positive change, lifted their breed specific bans and instead implemented stricter owner regulations.
Many more productive solutions can be implemented domestically as well that will appease supporters and non supporters of the legislation. Programs to regulate breeding, educate the public on pet ownership, stricter screening at adoption agencies, mandatory maximum penalty for negligent pet owners and aggressive campaigning for spay/neutering are just some of the programs that could do much more than banning specific breeds. The overly simplified solution of BSL cannot replace the effects of action and education. Ultimately, finding alternatives to BSL laws would show an active interest in pleasing both pro BSL and anti-BSL supporters, both of whom deserve their rights considered in an issue so controversial.”

Check it out!

~Stop Breed Discrimination!~

http://aspcacommunity.ning.com/group/stopbreeddiscrimination

Oliver

If you have ever felt lost or alone in this world or that no one cared, you might be able to relate to how Oliver felt. If you can remember the first time you ever felt completely loved and cared for, you might be able to understand how Oliver feels now. Oliver’s life has changed dramatically over the past several weeks.  He once was a lost, lonely soul on the streets of Portland until concerned citizens flooded our Humane Investigators with telephone calls. When our Investigators responded, they found Oliver, a six-year-old American Pit Bull mix, wandering alone and almost completely blind in both eyes that had ruptured long ago from glaucoma.

Frightened as Oliver must have been, he quickly responded to the kindness of our officers. Oliver was brought to the safety of the shelter where he was put under the care of our Medical Team. We can only imagine the relief Oliver must of have felt. To be in a place that offered hope, refuge and a second chance. To be surrounded by caring hands, tender voices, full food bowls and a warm bed. He no longer lived to merely survive another day, but was able to wake up and feel a sense of security.

Due to the damage the glaucoma had caused, our staff veterinarians surgically removed both of his eyes. Glaucoma is an extremely painful condition in which fluid accumulates inside the eye which often causes pressure and blindness. Throughout all of his exams and procedures, and the obvious pain and discomfort he was in, Oliver has been amazing. He is so gentle and loving and stoically endures all of his treatments. He has a wonderfully patient nature and tolerant temperament.

Our kennel staff has been working lovingly and diligently with Oliver helping him adjust to having no eyes and shelter life. He is extremely intelligent and has quickly learned the basic commands of  “Easy,” which alerts him he is about to walk into something,  and “Step Up” and “Step Down,” to go in and out of kennels and maneuver stairs. He has also learned that when staff tap gently on his sides, it tells him what direction they want him to go (tap his left side to turn left, right side to turn right).

Oliver has a quiet grace about himself. For all he has been through he seems to realize that something very good is happening to him. A life of real joy and peace is within his reach. Oliver may be blind but now he sees people truly have the capacity to be good and kind. Oliver is no longer lost. The next step in Oliver’s incredible journey is to find the perfect forever home. If you or someone you know is interested in adopting Oliver, you can find out more about him on his profile.

-Denise and Kelly, Foster Care Coordinators

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