Tuesday, August 11, 2009

SC Dogfighting Bust, 5 Pitbulls Seized

Seven people have been arrested and charged with animal cruelty and dogfighting in an alleged dogfighting operation in Sumter Co, SC:

While the pitbulls have been rescued from their life of dog fighting, investigators say it appears from their overall condition that they may not get a second lease on life.

"They're very skinny, you could see their ribs. They didn't live in good conditions,"says Sumter County Sheriff's Department Captain Allen Dailey.

Five pitbulls being used in what authorities say was an illegal dog fighting rind are in the custody of animal control. Investigators say a sixth dog died Monday.

I guess Sumter Co hasn't gotten the HSUS/Michael Vick "We've changed" memo. For the record, skinny can be fixed by a thing called feeding and it's not a valid reason to kill a dog. The dogs in the video do not appear emaciated to me.

Contact info for Sumter Co Sheriff's office is here. Hopefully HSUS has already contacted them to advise that bust dogs should be evaluated and sent to rescue if the owners have signed them over to the county. But if you don't want to count on HSUS, you might want to contact the Sheriff's office yourself.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

OK last time I checked "skinny " and in poor condition was treatable, curable even.

Nothing like food and medicine. I hope that the dog who died did not do so un-noticed in a run overnight from infection, dehydration and/or shock. If you bring a dog into custody, even a "fightin dog" a sick or injured dog requires veterinary care.

I don't wish to assume that these dogs might not be getting the sort of TLC they need, but I have seen on many occasions dogs neglected at shelters, sometimes in misery or outright pain, because they are "assumed to be killed ASAP" by the staff or management, so why waste resources?

JenniferJ