The most vicious participants in dog fights walk on two legs

Rock Island, IL -- By Brian Krans, bkrans@qconline.com

Steroids, weights and treadmills aren't just for human athletes. They're also what serious dog fighters use to train their dogs to kill each other.

Dogs bred for fighting are trained for years to withstand the pain of sometimes hour-long fights to the death. The well-organized matches are held underground, where thousands of dollars exchange hands among dog handlers.

In the Quad-Cities, illegal dog fighting -Cities is the equivalent of an elementary-school shoving match, officials said. "It's more 'my dog can beat your dog,'" said Byron Reynolds, a community service officer with the Rock Island Police Department.

"Primarily, we have street fighters, wannabes that think they're tough and don't know what they are doing," he said. "It's not a deal for money. In the bigger rings it is. The street thing is just a game."

Local matches take place inside abandoned houses or in parking lots when two people pit their dogs against each other, sometimes to the death.

While local matches don't come close to the dog fights held in larger cities across of the country, the outcome sometimes is the same for dog and owner.

On May 15, Jalon Thomas, 25, of Davenport died after being shot in the back. Witnesses to the slaying said he was arguing with Ambus Ray Davis III, 28, about a dog that died weeks before in an illegal fight when Mr. Davis allegedly shot him.

Robyn Dobernecker, senior animal control officer with the Humane Society of Scott County, fingers through photos of animals found roaming the streets with marks that tell her they were used for fighting.

Brutus, a brown and white pitbull, had bite marks on his face, and ears cut very short so other dogs couldn't latch onto them during a fight. Officer Dobernecker guessed he was dumped by his owner in 2002 after he lost a fight.

"It costs too much to fix them and when they lose, they are no good to their owner anyway," she said.

The Humane Society gets four or five dogs a year suspected of being used in dog fights. The animals are not made available for adoption for safety reasons, Officer Dobernecker said.

"We don't know what the command is to make them fight," she said. "Most of them are really good, believe it or not. Their temperament just changes when they see another dog or animal."

Mike Crow, a community service officer with the Rock Island Police Department, said most dogs with injuries get them from dogs just being dogs. "It's not very often, but occasionally, we will find one that has some injuries that can't be explained," he said.

In the fighting world, pit bulls are considered the dog of choice because of their incredibly strong jaws and ability to withstand large amounts of pain. But it isn't the breed that makes the dogs violent, it's how they're trained, Officer Dobernecker said. "It's why they (pit bulls) have such a bad reputation, because people use them for bad things."

Dogs as young as 6 weeks old are trained to kill, with owners using different methods. Sometimes, they use smaller dogs or cats to train them. A common sign of dog training is a rope hanging from a tree. Owners will make the dogs bite the rope and hang by their mouths until they are told to let go.

"That is what neighbors should be looking for," Officer Dobernecker said.

In April, Iowa lawmakers passed a law to upgrade animal fighting from a serious misdemeanor to a Class "D" felony, punishable by five years in prison. The law also broadened the scope of what is punishable for owners of "contest animals" and made watching a fight punishable by a year in jail.

But Officer Dobernecker hasn't used the new law yet. She said investigating fighting rings is difficult because witnesses won't talk. "These people are also involved with gangs, guns and drugs. People are afraid to testify against them."

Officer Reynolds said Rock Island ordinances help cut down on the smaller street-level fighting. Dogs must have visible tags and be on a leash at all times.

While Officer Dobernecker believes organized dog fights could be happening almost every weekend in the Quad-Cities, Officer Reynolds doubts it.

"If it's going on, they're doing it better than we can tell," he said. "I have never actually found a house or a ring where there has been dog fighting."

Signs of a home with dog fights:

- People coming and going often with large dogs

- Owners with multiple or different dogs

- Ropes hanging from trees

- Dogs with ears trimmed close to the head

Source: Robyn Dobernecker, senior animal control officer with the Humane Society of Scott County.

Staff writer Brian Krans can be reached at (309) 786-6441, ext. 271.

 

Robyn Dobernecker = Moron!

 

I guess i'll be the next Floyd then, cause all those so-called signs can be seen here. A rope hanging from a tree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Call the police!!!!!

 

For real,, i'm gona serve 5 years in prison for having a spring pole in my yard..:rolleyes:

 

anyone know the command to make em fight????




lol

 

yeah it's get'em boys LOL

I can't belive they said a rope in a tree

 

Yeah... I have a dog that's been hanging on the rope for 3 weeks now. I forgot to tell him to let go.

This is serious business though. My mom -a harmless old lady, mind you- was recently under investigation for having a springpole on her yard. She was harrassed so frequently by a certain animal control officer, that finally she had to pack up and move.

 

sic 'em? lol

 

I know it's not funny, but I had to laugh as it reminded me of the time someone called the animal control in the parish I was living in to report me for having a springpole & "lots of pit bulls that hang from it". The kicker was I was THERE at the shelter feeding some stray pit bulls that we were working on getting out of there. What a joke! As soon as the office lady read the address I looked at another worker & we both laughed as we recognized the address to be mine! People just need to mind their own business sometimes.................

 

Yeah The Treadmills And Ropes Hanging From Trees Call The Cops Thats Crap.

 

uhoh this is bad what next such idiots

 

For real dogs are such beautiful animals, why do so many people what to hurt them

 

I agree this is not funny, but I still had to chuckle when I read the "we do not know the command to make them fight" comment. What a dope.

 

you have got to be kidding me.......

 

Apparently it doesn't take any type of brains to have any kind of authority over another living thing.

 

Well, believe it or not alot of police officers do have a bias of American Pitbulls. I have a cop that lives next door to me and one time he saw me playing tug of war with my male and thought that I was training my dogs to fight. So the next few days as I was walking my male, he stopped me in the street and told me that I "better be careful" because I could get my dogs taken away because I am training them to fight and also get arrested. I told him that I'm not doing anything wrong besides playing with my dogs. Than he stated that I was teaching my dogs to lock their jaws which is a sign of dog fighting.

Any how I told him to mind his business and that he's not a cop in our town-ship and told him to piss off. He got upset as I walked away. I don't really care what that cop will try to do or say because (1) my uncle is a cop and (2) that neighbor cop is out of his jurisdiction.

 

Lol I foster so I am always coming and going with diferent dogs!! Lol!! I am a dog fighter apparently... lol Its a good thing I dont have a tree in my back yard or I would have a "rope hangin from a tree" Lolol

 

This is BS. Having a rope in the backyard, training my dog to lock their jaw is training them to fight wtf? this is the wierdest read I have read so far.

 

would it kill these people to do some investigative journalism? i fall into all of these catergories except for the ropes hanging from these trees.

its called dog rescue!!!

 

You should have told that cop that he looks like the kind of guy that likes music and flowers, so he should put his tulips (two lips for you slower folks) on your organ.

Ferk out