"These dogs would most certainly kill any other dog they could get to."

Here's John Goodwin's (HSUS 'dogfighting czar' *blech*) response to the Wilkes County Pitbull killings.  It's being posted around the net as pet lovers are still reeling from the events of yesterday:

Those particular fighting dogs in Wilkes County, NC were very, very different than the Vick dogs. Whereas Michael Vick was a pro football player that fought dogs as a hobby, the breeder of these dogs was a globally recognized professional dogfighter. Vick was not a good breeder, and he lost most of his fights. His dogs were a poor representation of true fighting dogs. With the Wilkes County dogs, even the puppies as young as 8 weeks of age where attacking each other and drawing blood. We had to buy new cages to separate litters of young pups.

With the Vick dogs it cost nearly $1 million to “rehab” 49 dogs, and still half of them are in solitary kennel runs, unable to socialize with other dogs. In this case there were 127 dogs, and they are far more aggressive than the Vick dogs. 

The “misleading claims” have come from a couple of individuals that never saw these dogs, and choose to throw stones on the internet. I saw these dogs, and in fact handled many of them while they were being evaluated. These dogs would most certainly kill any other dog they could get to. 

It is very sad that people are also missing the bigger story, that our work has shut down one of the top breeders of fighting dogs in the United States. Dogfighters are seeing their hero’s go to prison. This is having an effect, and many dogfighters are leaving that world behind as they recognize the cost of doing business is too great. HSUS is the only organization in the United States that has an entire campaign that works full time on animal fighting issues. 

I support pit bull rescue, but there has to be a group that goes farther and hits at the root of the problem. That is what we are doing by putting leaders in the dogfighting criminal underworld out of business. 

Lastly, Wilkes County euthanizes 3,000 healthy, adoptable animals a year simply because there are not enough good homes opening their doors to these needy animals. I find it disturbing that the groups clamoring for media attention over these 127 dogs raise no fuss, and offer no assistance, for the other 3,000 dogs put down in that county each year. 

Sincerely,


John Goodwin
Manager, Animal Fighting Issues
The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L St. NW
Washington, DC 20037
301-258-3156

I'm apparently one of those "couple of individuals" making "misleading claims" and throwing stones on the internet.  Boo hoo, doncha just hate that Freedom of Speech thingy?  While I take issue with like, every single sentence in this letter, I'm going to focus on this one part:

I support pit bull rescue, but there has to be a group that goes farther and hits at the root of the problem. 

Number One:  With 'supporters' like you, pitbull rescue don't need no enemies, you know what I'm saying?  Could you go 'support' something else please?  Preferably something already dead.  Number Two:  HSUS is the 'group that goes farther'?  Really?  HSUS is the group that advocates for killing all bust dogs without individual evaluations by qualified behaviorists.  Is that getting to 'the root of the problem'?  To me, that's just compounding the problem by misleading the public and killing unevaluated dogs.  Every dog deserves a fair evaluation.  

For more "couple of individuals" and their "misleading claims", visit Lassie, Get Help.