A friend of mine called me distraught. She works downtown, on the west side. Over the course of several days, she kept seeing this dog in horrible condition.
Wanting to rescue the dog, she approached it and it scooted away. She followed, ending up facing a two-story abandoned building just west of the intersection of S. Gallatin Street and Hooker Street.
What she found left her aghast. The abandoned building was being used to house and breed dozens of dogs — dogs she believed to be fodder for dog fighting.
The dogs were clearly being fed, with empty bowls strewn about, surrounded by dog feces and rat dropping and all sorts of disgusting trash and debris.
She got the police involved. She said the Jackson Police did nothing and seemed to know who was behind the dog breeding operation. The Capitol Police took action. She eventually rescued about two dozen dogs and found housing for them with the various dog rescue organizations.
She got another friend involved. That friend was eventually threatened by the owners of the dogs who showed up at her house with, she thinks, a gun. He fled when he realized he was on a security camera.
They contacted the building owner, a prominent doctor, who professed shock at what was happening, but my dog rescuing friends were suspicious. Soon after contacting the building owner, the dogs were cleared out.
These two women were too afraid to use their name, fearing reprisals from the dog owner. However, one Northsider who became involved, Charles Hooker, was willing to go on record. He confirmed the story.
Hooker believed the dogs were a mix of “fighter dogs” and “bait dogs.” The fighter dogs were bred to kill and the bait dogs were the victims. He described what he saw as “absolutely horrendous.”
“I wish there would be a groundswell of opinion that would make anyone attending these dogfights an accessory to a crime so they could be prosecuted,” Hooker told me.
“It’s horrendous to think of doing this to an animal. Anyone with any human decency would never abide by such a thing.”
Hooker called Jackson city council member Virgi Lindsay who contacted the police, but by that time the apartment building was abandoned.
Hooker and the two women involved believe there are dozens of these types of breeding operations housed in abandoned buildings throughout Jackson.
Blood sports in general can be traced back to the Roman Empire, according to Wikipedia. “In 13 BC, for instance, the ancient Roman circus slew 600 African beasts. Dog fighting, more specifically, can also be traced to ancient Roman times.
“For instance, Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned from 1558 to 1603, was an avid follower of bull- and bear-baiting; she bred Mastiffs dogs for baiting and would entertain foreign guests with a fight whenever they visited England.
“With the popularity of bull- and bear-baiting, bears needed for such fights soon became scarce.With the scarcity of the bear population, the price of bears rose and, because of this, bull-baiting became more common in England over time.
‘Bulls who survived the fights were slaughtered afterwards for their meat, as it was believed that the fight caused bull meat to become more tender. In fact, if a bull was offered for sale in the market without having been baited the previous day, butchers were liable to face substantial fines. Animal fights were temporarily suspended in England when Oliver Cromwell seized power, but were reinstated again after the Restoration. Dog fighting, bull-baiting, and bear-baiting were officially outlawed in England by the Humane Act of 1835. The official ban on all fights, however, actually served to promote dog fighting in England.[12] Since a small amount of space was required for the pit where a dog fight took place, as compared to the ring needed for bull- or bear-baiting, authorities had a difficult time enforcing the ban on dog fighting.
“Dog fighting flourished in the United States after the Civil War. In 20th century America, despite the expansion of laws to outlaw dog fighting, dog fighting continued to flourish underground.
“On July 8, 2009, one of the largest dog fighting raids in U.S. history occurred. Law enforcement seized over 350 dogs, mostly pit bulls, and arrested 26 people across eight states.”
Today, dog fighting is banned throughout the world except for a handful of countries, including Russia and China.
Dog fighting is associated with gang violence, drug dealing and a host of other bad activities. Gambling on the dogs goes along with the fighting.
Last year in Panola County, Mississippi, law enforcement officials busted a dog fighting ring and confiscated 29 dogs and 13 vehicles left when participants fled.
The number of arrests of people engaged in dog fighting in Mississippi indicates widespread dog fighting.
Section 97-41-19 of the Mississippi code makes everything about dog fighting a felony, including being a spectator. The fine is up to $5,000 and a maximum of one year in jail.
I do not understand why a person would enjoy watching a dog get ripped apart, suffer and die. I guess Satan is still wreaking havoc and evil is still strong on planet Earth today. Pray for these people who do this. They are trapped in their flesh and as pathetic as the dogs they enjoy torturing.
