Underage boys lured into dogfighting

Dogfighting is a type of blood sport in which dogs are forced to fight one another for the entertainment and or profit of the spectators that takes part in these ‘matches’ but for five local boys this was not what they ‘signed up’ for after being lured into a ‘setup’ dogfighting match.

It is alleged that a local teenager was approached earlier in last week by older men at his uncle’s house stating that they will pay him if they can use the dog for breeding purposes.

After the boy told his friends about the offer, they accepted it and head out to a given location on Sunday, September 6.

It is believed that the five boys went to the given location in Tasbet Park X1 with the one boy’s uncle’s dog where they walked into a set-up dog fighting match.

“We came here as the guy said he wants to use my dog for breeding, but as we came here they let loose a big Pitbull breed that went directly to my uncle’s dog and started to attack him,” the boy stated on scene.

The Community Policing Forum (CPF) was dispatched to the scene where the culprits already fled the scene and left the seriously injured dog with the boys behind to face the consequences.

Moments later the South African Community Crime Watch (SACCW) were called in for backup as the under-aged boys’ parents arrived on the scene, furious about what they were told as not one of the five boys owned a dog.

Emotions from parents ran high and the uncle whose dog was taken to this gruesome incident arrived on the scene but immediately left as he was upset and could not stand it, seeing his dog in such pain.

“I will rather leave this to the authorities because I am beyond angry about what I saw, how could they steal my dog to be part of such a wicked act,” the uncle stated before leaving the scene.

The SPCA arrived at the scene and took the dog to a safe place until the special operation gets to a conclusion to this case.

“Animal abuse can be broadly divided into active and passive abuse. Active abuse is a premeditated act of violence against an animal while passive abuse speaks more to crimes of neglect. The criminal activity of dog fighting is an example of both active and passive animal abuse as the animal victims are both used to fight, getting severely injured or even loosing their lives in the process, and then severely are also neglected as they are not provided with veterinary care and are often kept in the worst of conditions. Together they paint a picture of extreme disregard for the animals’ suffering and an extreme lack of empathy. Acts of deliberate neglect are not based in ignorance but in a lack of empathy and are as a result of a choice to allow the animal to suffer,” said Senior Inspector, Wendy Willson from the Special Investigations Unit at National Council of SPCA.

The mother of one boy opened her heart to WITBANK NEWS and told the heartbreaking story of her other son that went missing in 2016 and now she is facing this with her youngest son.

“I can’t believe that I was called out to come to this place just to see what mischief my son is getting himself into. My heart is breaking as I lost a son already and now my other son is doing this to me. I warned him for the last two weeks about his new friends. I did not like him hanging out with these boys and look, my intuition was right,” she said in tears.

No case was opened by the Witbank Police as the SPCA’s special operation will be investigating the blood sport of dogfighting in eMalahleni until the culprits are brought to justice.

“The increase in Pitbull ownership has not gone unnoticed and is of great concern to us as very few people understand the responsibilities or legal implications (when these dogs get out and injure other people’s dogs) that come with owning this breed. The SPCA will be vigilant in all illegal activities involving these dogs. The punishment for being caught involved in any way with dog fighting activities has increased rapidly and a landmark sentence in 2019 saw a guilty individual sentenced to five and a half years of imprisonment amongst other punishments. (And he had pleaded guilty). The courts are definitely recognising the deviance of this crime,” Natalée Pretorius, Manager from Witbank SPCA concluded.

FULL STATEMENT –

Senior Inspector Wendy Willson, Special Investigations Unit at National Council of SPCAs:

Animal abuse can be broadly divided into active and passive abuse.

Active abuse is a premeditated act of violence against an animal while passive abuse speaks more to crimes of neglect.

The criminal activity of dog fighting is an example of both active and passive animal abuse as the animal victims are both used to fight, getting severely injured or even loosing their lives in the process, and then severely are also neglected as they are not provided with veterinary care and are often kept in the worst of conditions.

Together they paint a picture of extreme disregard for the animals’ suffering and an extreme lack of empathy.

Acts of deliberate neglect are not based in ignorance but in a lack of empathy and are as a result of a choice to allow the animal to suffer.

Dog fighting is an active (premeditated) act of animal abuse.

Premeditated acts of abuse and violence against a vulnerable entity are one of the first manifestations of low empathy and callous disregard.

Dog fighting is both a predictor and an indicator crime, meaning that its presence in a community signals the future escalation of violent crime and indicates that additional linked criminal activities and control crimes are occurring concurrently.

Studies verify the link between animal abuse and later or concurrent violence towards humans and found that violent criminals are 5 times more likely to commit acts of violence toward people if they have committed prior acts of violence toward animals.

Numerous studies have shown 70% of animal abusers have committed at least one other criminal offence and 40% committed violent crimes against people.

Active animal abuse for entertainment such as dog fighting, combined with the age category of the young perpetrators in this case presents the highest statistical motive for predicted future interpersonal violence and place them in the category of delinquent animal abusers with the highest correlated risk of further escalation of criminal activities and for adult criminality.

The organised criminal activity of Dog Fighting can only successfully take place within a fraternity type engagement.

The fraternity consists of deviants experienced in this crime, passing on the methods for committing and rationalising the crime to new individuals in the community.

Dog fighters have a very clear and devastating effect on younger children in a community who they actively recruit and expose to this criminal activity.

The victims of this crime are uniquely vulnerable, they cannot talk and are abused by the very people they depend on most.

This specific incident where the community blew the whistle on this illegal activity taking place indicates that the community not only recognises the severity of this crime and what it heralds but that the community is tired of these offences and wants action to be taken against the perpetrators.

It is our understanding that the apprehended suspects informed enforcement officers that they had been tricked into fighting their dog which is an excuse and attempt to evade arrest that is often encountered when dogfighters are caught engaged in this criminal activity.

The Animals Protection Act is very specific about the crime of Animal Fighting and clearly outlines that every aspect of animal fighting is illegal including not only the fight itself but watching the fight, keeping, breeding, selling, buying or training a dog for fighting purposes or allowing any of these activities to take place on your property are all illegal.