Cockfighting, dog fighting, and greyhound racing are blood sports propagated to fulfill people’s sick sense of entertainment. All involve animals without rights that are used as money makers and when they are no longer profitable, gamecocks are tortured or put to death by inhumane methods.
Cockfighting is illegal in Washington, D.C., plus 49 states and in August 2008, cockfighting will be illegal in Louisiana. Unfortunately, illegal or not, cockfighting still exists and people are still getting busted for it even in Pima County. Drugged gamecocks fight to their death while pierced with razor blades and are tortured along the way by having their eyes plucked out. What kind of entertainment is this? Is it cultural? No! Cockfighting is a felony in 35 states including Arizona. Being a spectator at a cockfighting event is illegal in 41 states including Arizona.
Dog fighting is yet another blood sport which recently made headlines along with Michael Vick. Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg defended Vick by saying that dog fighting was a cultural thing with young black men in the ‘hood. Yet, according to a recent survey, public opinion polls show opposition to dog fighting across the board regardless of culture.
Dog fighting pits dog against dog until the bloody end. Dogs are electrocuted and tortured. What about this is entertainment? Dog fighting is outlawed in all 50 states and a felony in all but two — Idaho and Wyoming.
For greyhound racing, dogs do not fight each other yet they are virtually running for their lives. Greyhound racing is still legal in 14 states. Unfortunately, Arizona is one of them. Crimes against greyhounds have been perpetrated by man as racing greyhounds in Arizona have been buried in mass graves with their ears cut off to hide their tattoo numbers. Greyhounds routinely disappear and fall through the cracks without ever being accounted for. They are frequently covered in ticks and sit in their own urine and feces for days. Some swallow stones and their own collars resulting in seizures and death.
Greyhound deaths are only counted when a track veterinarian euthanizes them. When they are taken to local veterinarians to be euthanized, get on a truck and transported by the hundreds to unknown deaths, or dumped in the desert – they go unaccounted for.
Dogs run and they break their legs, hocks, and backs. They are euthanized even when they finish the race and there is an adoption rep on her way to pick them up! Or they sit in their cages for days or weeks unattended to, with broken limbs and broken hearts.
The state of Arizona doesn’t have enough money in their budget to properly drug test dogs; the industry standard is nine but AZ Department of Racing tests two or three. Greyhound race dogs have no rights as they are deemed as property by the people who own them. If the owners want their property destroyed – they’re destroyed. No questions asked.
Don’t tell us that greyhound racing is not a blood sport. Yet the AZ Department of Racing has on their website – that they encourage and promote the breeding of horses and greyhounds. Why?
Tags: Greyhounds ETC., Speak Out Against Greyhound Racing by NoMoreRacing
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