Dog+Abuse

**​​​​Dog Abuse**
Do you know how many dogs are abused every day? Do you know how many are in critical care? Do you know how many are near death? Do you know how many do not receive the help they need? Do you know why they do not get the help they need? Because, people do not help them.

How many? There is no exact number of how many dogs die every year or day. This is because many of the cases are in court and are not allow to withdraw information, many animal shelters euthanize dogs to create more space, and dogs are killed when they are in a dog fight. Still there are thousands of dogs hurt everyday.

Breeds The first thing most people think of when they hear the names pit bulls, rottweilers, or German shepherds is that they are aggressive dogs. The reason for this is because pit bulls are commonly used for dog fighting. In the fight, they will lock their jaws until their opponent is dead. Rottweilers are known to be aggressive because of their territorial instinct and massive size. On the contrary, this makes them a great guard dog. German shepherds are highly used by the police. Because of this, people think they are dangerous. But, the reason they are picked to work on the force are because they are intelligent, very alert, confident and fearless. These are just few of many dogs that might send a chill down your spine. The truth is any dog can be aggressive or the sweetest thing, but this all depends on the training of the dog. If the dog is trained well it will listen and behave. Training a dog like this takes a lot of time though. A dog must be around various ages of humans and dogs. It needs to know when and who it can play roughly with and who and when it must be gentle with. One of the most important things it must know is who the "boss" is. If a dog does not know who the "boss" is, then it will think that they are the "boss". A dog that does not get good training will not just turn out to be aggressive. It probably will not behave and be a bit hyper. If it is not socialized with people or dogs when it is a puppy, it might not know how to behave when it is around one. What makes a dog aggressive is if it was abused. It might have been left outside with a chain, not given the proper food and water or actually physically abused. Even if the dog is given a new owner and the owner is nice but the dog is still aggressive it is neither the owners or dogs fault. Dogs have an extraordinary memory. The dog will be scared of any human if it was very poorly taken care of before. It will take a long time for a dog with a past of abuse to trust a human. Once that trust builds the dog will probably be very protective of that one human and still be scared of any other human. Puppy Mills Have you ever been to a pet store and seen those cute puppies jumping at you begging for your attention? Did you ever wonder where the puppies come from? Most of those puppies come from a puppy mill. Puppy mills breed dogs to sell the puppies to stores like the one you walked in. The dogs there are very poorly taken care of. They are kept in cages that have big holes that the dog's foot can get stuck in and that is very uncomfortable to sleep on. Many dogs are injured because of fights that occur inside the cramped cages. There is no escape. The cages are usually filled with the dog's feces. The food they are fed provide no nutrition for the dogs so their teeth start to decay. During the winter some dogs freeze to death and during the summer the die of heat stroke. Female dogs are bred the first time they come into heat and are bred every heat cycle. Once they can no longer reproduce they are killed usually by being bashed in the head with a rock or shot. At this age they are often 5 years old. The dogs are very unhealthy. The puppy mills do not provide any medical care to make more profit.

Dog Fighting

Dog fighting is when people are entertained or gamble by watching two dogs fight against each other. The fights usually take place in a pit or small arena made of plywood. The dogs usually die of blood loss, shock, dehydration, or exhaustion. The dogs used are trained to fight. The owner will usually use a rabbit, cat, or smaller dog to train the dog. This helps them boost their confidence making a better "show". Other training:
 * Treadmill: The dogs run to cardiovascular fitness and endurance
 * Catmill: The dog is tied to a pole and another animal (a cat, rabbit, etc.) is tied to another pole above the dog. The dog will chase the animal around in circles. The reward is the animal in the end.
 * Springpole: A pople has a rope, tire, or,animal hide attached to the end. The dog jumps, bites the item. and hangs there. This builds jaw and hind leg muscle.
 * Flirtpole: The dog chases after a pole with a lure attached.
 * Chains: The dogs have chains around their necks. The weight helps build neck and upper body strength.
 * Weights: Weights are attached to the dog's chain. This also build neck and upper body strength. The dogs will wear the weights all the time. Sometimes the owners will make the dog run with the weights.
 * Bait: The bait will be tied up while the dog tears it apart. Another way is when the bait and dog are in a confind area.
 * Drugs: The dogs are given vitamins, supplements and/or drugs.

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Michael Vick Michael Vick has been involved with dog fighting for over 30 years. In those years he has trained and fought about 2,000 pit bulls. In the dog fighting world they refer to him as one of the heavyweights. A heavyweight is someone who can bet a lot of money ($30,000-$40,0000), When authorities raided his house they found a lot of evidence of dog fighting, This evidence includes dogs (mostly pit bulls), a dog fighting pit, bloodstained carpets, and tools used to train dogs. He partcipated in the killings of 8 dogs. These killings included electrocution, hanging, drowning, and slamming the dog into a concrete floor. He also decided to kill a dog by wetting her and then electrocuting her, He denied that he was part of dog fighting world. He spent 18 months of a 23-month sentence at Leavenworth federal prison for dog fighting charges. After all of this the NFL still took him back.

Laws
 * Idaho and Wyoming are the 2 states without animal cruelty as a felony.
 * Colorado has the highest maximum fine at $500,000. Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Rhode Island all have the lowest maximum fine at $1,000.
 * North Carolina and Mississippi have the highest maximum time in jail at 10 years. Alabama and Louisiana have the lowest maximum time in jail at 6 months.
 * Passive Cruelty: The owner is accused of ignoring the dog. The dog may be starved, dehydrated, have parasite infections, inadequate shelter or lack of veterinary care.
 * Active Cruelty: The owner is accused of deliberately hurting the dog. These cases are usually very disturbing and cause the dog to have serious psychological problems.



Organizations The Humane Society is one of the best helpers. This organization has been going on since 1878.

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The ASPCA was the first humane organization in the western hemisphere. It has helpoed animals since 1866. Their mission is to help stop animal abuse and neglect in the Unites States.

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Expert Shannon-a familly friend that has 2 rottweilers (Reese,5, Jasmine,10) His dogs are trained very well. They listen and obey every command. He chose rottweilers because they are very easy to train and are smart. Training the dogs took time but that is someonething you must dedicate to a dog, along with love, He also chose these dogs because of how they are great gaurd dogs. They are alert. They bark when they hear someone at the door to let you know someones there. But they are not aggresive. They are sweet to anyone and enjoy other people's company, Jasmine loves when you pet her and if you do not, she will bug you till you do, Many people are scared when they walk by but once they get to know the dog they are not scared.Shannon is also one of the reason we chose to get a rottweiler. He has been a lot of hard work, but it is worth it. He is very entertaining and loves to cuddle and sleeps. He is a bit rowdy at some times. Shannon' s dogs show that rottweilers are not mean dogs, They can be nice as long as they have the right training.

Bibliography "ASPCA." //Fight Animal Cruelty//. ASPCA, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. .

"Humane Society." //Dog Fighting//. Humane Society, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. .

"Pet-Abuse.Com - Home." //Pet-Abuse.Com - Home//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2010. .

"Pets Do | Pet Resource and Community." //Pets Do | Pet Resource and Community//. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. .

"Puppymills - Information about puppy mills and how to shut them down.." //Puppymills - Information about puppy mills and how to shut them down.//. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. .