Dogs for street fighting ?

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen this messaging often enough that I have a hard time believing it, but I want to check myself.

Sometimes when people in my suburban community want to rehome their dogs, they’ll post on a community forum. There’s always at least one person who says ‘don’t give this dog away because many people will use them for dog fights and street fighting! Instead go through this rescue.’

So my questions : are there really that many underground dog fighting rings in the suburbs rehoming a dog within a community is risky? Or is it an urban legend that just won’t die.

Is there a financial incentive for rescues to want to handle the rehoming themselves? (I can’t imagine there is.)

[Anonymous]

I have no idea. But I think it's true that people don't value things they didn't pay for. If a dog is free, it's easy for someone to adopt on a whim and toss him out on a whim.
And there is dog fighting in every type of neighborhood (yes really) so eventually, maybe, that dog ends up there if it isn't hit by a car first.

[Anonymous]

PP again, dog rescues have overhead for food, medical, kennel space, etc., including for dogs that never find homes. So your specific dog may or may not have cost the rescue as much as you paid in adoption fees, but adoption fees do not cover their total costs. They rely on donations of cash, supplies, and vet services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen this messaging often enough that I have a hard time believing it, but I want to check myself.

Sometimes when people in my suburban community want to rehome their dogs, they’ll post on a community forum. There’s always at least one person who says ‘don’t give this dog away because many people will use them for dog fights and street fighting! Instead go through this rescue.’

So my questions : are there really that many underground dog fighting rings in the suburbs rehoming a dog within a community is risky? Or is it an urban legend that just won’t die.

Is there a financial incentive for rescues to want to handle the rehoming themselves? (I can’t imagine there is.)

dog fights/street fighting are less common than this comment would have you believe, but they do exist. But as a pp said upthread, the real concern is that a person who can't afford an adoption fee probably can't afford proper vet care, supplies, food, training, etc. for the dog.

re: the last question, no. There's no financial incentive for rescues to want to handle the rehoming. Shelters operate at a loss, and most rescues are volunteer-run and rely on foster homes to care for their adoptable animals. The vet bills, medical supplies, transport costs, website maintenance, etc. are all barely/rarely offset by the adoption fees.

Pets as a commodity are rarely a profitable item. It's hard to take good care of a living creature of any value without exceeding that value in expenses.

[Anonymous]

Google “dog fighting in DMV” and you can find multiple convictions in just the last year. How many dog fighting ring members haven’t been caught and made headlines? Dog fighting rings are not an urban legend. I don’t know how the fighting dogs are obtained; maybe they breed them themselves? I would think any dogs they snatch up for free are “bait” for training and not fighters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Google “dog fighting in DMV” and you can find multiple convictions in just the last year. How many dog fighting ring members haven’t been caught and made headlines? Dog fighting rings are not an urban legend. I don’t know how the fighting dogs are obtained; maybe they breed them themselves? I would think any dogs they snatch up for free are “bait” for training and not fighters.

This is usually correct, especially for shy or sweet dogs (which most people's pets are likely to be). That said, it's not the kind of massive horrorshow industry the mythology and frequent use of the trope might lead you to believe. One ring of violent idiots may lead to multiple convictions. Still, this isn't a "dog fights on every block" situation, and it's far less frequent than it used to be.