Written by PETA
Earlier this week, Florida resident Willie Bell turned down a plea deal of three years in prison for a felony charge of cruelty to animals. Not smart: Now Bell faces five years in prison, and if he's convicted, he deserves every second of it. According to police, Bell tied a 30-pound dumbbell around a dog's neck, placed the dog in the water 25 yards off shore, and forced him to swim for his life. Blackie, the 2-year-old pit bull mix, was rescued after a witness saw him struggling and called police.
When PETA heard about this case, we immediately contacted the local police department, since dogfighters often train dogs by forcing them to tread water. Fortunately, the investigation turned up no evidence of dogfighting, and Blackie is now back with his guardian, Bell's cousin, who was reportedly horrified to learn about Bell's alleged actions.
Pit bulls are the most abused dogs in dogdom. Because of their "macho" image, pit bulls are the breed of choice for thugs, gangs, drug dealers, and dogfighters. But we can all help stop this cycle of abuse. Speak out against negative media depictions that perpetuate the image of pit bulls as fighting machines. And please, if you see an animal in danger, contact your local police department immediately.
Written by Paula Moore
to start off on pit bulls you have you understand the breed, how the breed was established and wh they are so easily exploited. to begin with its origins a pit bull was breed initially to wrangle bulls. to perpetuate this, they were breed to have a high pain tolerance (especially in their neck and jawline), sturdy builds and the ability to jump high distances with the strong jaw able to lock on and take down large animals. to exploit these natural traits in pit bulls are easy. but what is not si easy is to take a pit bulls gentle nature away easily. the pits i have owned have been very loving and good family pets. i trust my pitties with the lives of my children because to those dogs my children are their whole worlds. they have to be abused beyond most breeds to make them cruel and vicious because by the time they are vicious they have suffered countless abuse and neglect by the hands of their owners. i think there should be strict laws put into place to protect most pets from abuse. the goverment wants to tag, TATTOO serial numbers on our wonderful pets. they are living breathing soulful creatures whos only fault is that they were breed to serve man even down to the most depraved humans. i say let the sicko 'owners' suffer and not the pittie babies. . .just how i feel
Ashley Anne, how sweet of you! This world needs alot more people like you. What makes me almost as sick as these twisted animal abusers, are the jerks who come on here saying, "it's just a dog". Well, sorry you are one of the ignorant fools who do not see animals the way you should. They are loving, loyal, and the least deserving of abuse. Even if you do not like dogs, you couldn't possible think abusing them is ok if you have any sort of moral compass. Obviously, you don't. People like them are what's wrong with this world today.
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If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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