The Michael Vick effect

By Gary Cohen
Medill Reports - Chicago

The signs are everywhere: Heavy logging chains. Gnawed bicycle tires hanging from trees. Specially rigged treadmills. Pit bulls with deep, bloody gouges on their faces, muzzles and forelegs and the damaged spirit reflective of a ritualistic pattern of neglect and abuse.

But when the indictment of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick launched dogfighting into the national spotlight in July, many still wrote the incident off as just another example of celebrity excess or an anomaly occurring only in the rural South.

Sgt. Eldon Urbikas of the Chicago Police Department's Animal Crimes Unit said dogfighting - a vicious blood sport pitting dogs against one another in a winner-take-all death match - is far from a new or isolated phenomenon. It is happening in back alleys, abandoned buildings and isolated backyards all over the country.

And it is most certainly happening right here in Chicago.

So far this year, the Animal Crimes Unit has logged more than 40 arrests related to dogfighting and recovered more than 120 dogs that were allegedly abused. Urbikas said dogfighting is most popular with teens and young adults in the black and Hispanic communities.

"A general way to say it is wherever you see the most violent crime - that is the most guns, drugs, those kinds of crimes - you're going to find dogfighting," explained Cynthia Bathurst, the executive director of the animal advocacy Dog Advisory Work Group. "So in particular, that means that the West and Southwest sides are where the most dogfighting is."

According to the Washington-based Humane Society of the United States, there are an estimated 40,000 professional dogfighters in the U.S., but the biggest growth area for the sport is amateur street fighting in big cities such as Chicago. The Anti-Cruelty Society recently took an informal survey of school-age children all around the city and found that about one in five has actually attended a dogfight.

"People really need to be aware that it's more than just an aberrant behavior or crime being committed in little pockets around the country," said Elliott Serrano, community outreach specialist for the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago. "It is a culture that is slowly being assimilated in all levels of society."

Click here to see how dogfighting has spread nationwide.

In July, Cook County Police seized 37 dogs, mainly pit bulls, from a barn in South Holland. Officials described it as the largest seizure of fighting dogs in Illinois history.

According to the police report, the dogs ranged from puppies to adults in top fighting condition. They were kept in small cages stacked three high in a dark corner of the barn. Unfortunately, this type of cruelty is far from uncommon in the bloody dogfighting industry.

The Southwest Side - specifically the 22nd Police District around Morgan Park - always tends to have a high number of dogfighting arrests, Bathurst said. Animal advocacy Web site pet-abuse.com lists recent dogfighting incidents in Morgan Park, Merrionette Park and Robbins where dogs were found in similar conditions.

"It's really just a life of neglect at the end of a chain until it's time to be placed in that pit where they either maul or get mauled," said John Goodwin, the manager of animal fighting issues for the Humane Society.

Fighting dogs undergo conditioning to make them meaner and improve their chances in the ring. Most animals are kept in filthy cages, fitted with heavy neck chains and offered precious little human contact.

Tio Hardiman, an animal advocate who grew up around dogfighting in Chicago's Henry Horner project, said dogfighters routinely beat their dogs or deprive them of food. Some owners even feed their dogs gunpowder or dead bees with the stingers still attached to help ensure their aggression.

"Sometimes the dogs become desensitized to the pain because they've already been brutalized by their masters," Hardiman said. "By the time they get into a fight, they're used to pain."

Dogs are also trained physically for the rigors of the ring. Many dogfighters put their dogs on specially modified treadmills or force them to hang by their teeth from suspended bicycle tires for hours to build their strength. Often, they start their dogs fighting against smaller, so-called bait animals like rabbits or cats that are either stolen from backyards or claimed from newspaper advertisements offering free pets to good homes.

"Some of these amateur dogfighters will just abuse these pit bulls in hopes that making them mean will make them better fighters," Goodwin said. "That doesn't make them better fighters. What it does do is destroy their natural inclination to love human beings, and that can lead to tragic, tragic events."

Noting the growing popularity of dogfighting, Goodwin estimated that 15 years ago, less than 3% of the dogs coming into animal shelters nationally were pit bulls. Now that number is closer to 30%. In some urban areas, it can reach 70%.

Though dogfighting is illegal in all 50 states - and a felony in 48 - it has still managed to thrive all over the U.S. Professional dogfighting is a big business, and gambling has become an integral part of it. A top-level professional fight can draw hundreds of spectators and offer a six-figure purse.

"It generates a lot of money gambling-wise," said Officer Felipe Reyes of the Animal Crimes Unit. "I mean, if you think about Michael Vick, how much money would he be betting on this?" (Vick could be liable for up to $1 million in damages for his dogfighting activity.)

According to Sgt. Urbikas, the majority of Chicago's dogfighting is of the amateur street-fighting variety, where wagers can range from a pair of gym shoes to several thousand dollars.

But the most alarming aspect of dogfighting might be its link to other criminal activity. A three-year study by Sgt. Brian Degenhardt of the Chicago Police Department found that there is a "startling propensity for offenders charged with crimes against animals to commit other violent offenses toward human victims."

Of the 332 offenders reviewed in the study, 70% of those arrested for animal crimes have also had prior felony arrests on battery, weapons or drug charges.

In recent years, the Chicago Police Department has taken a more proactive approach to animal crimes in general and dogfighting in particular. The Animal Crimes Unit now has nine full-time officers trained to recognize and handle animal crimes. In October the department was recognized by the Humane Society of the United States and the National District Attorneys Association for its work against dogfighting in Chicago.

Illinois also passed more stringent laws against animal fighting in 2007. According to Goodwin of the Humane Society, the wide-spread publicity over the Vick case and the ensuing public outrage is forcing policymakers to respond. Last week Vick turned himself over to U.S. marshals to begin serving a prison term of an as-yet unspecified length. Also, an Alabama judge handed down a 102-year sentence to a convicted dogfighter.

Goodwin said the best way stop the brutal practice is to report any sign of dogfighting to police and ensure that city officials and law enforcement officials make the prevention of dogfighting a priority. The Humane Society is also starting a reward program that offers up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of an animal fighter.

"I think that the Vick indictment and resulting publicity has caused a temporary decline in dogfighting," Goodwin said. "I think we can make that decline permanent if enough pressure continues to be applied. The opportunity is there to make permanent inroads against the dogfighters, but it's an opportunity that can be easily squandered if it is not handled both with tender care and also a sense of urgency and aggressive prosecutions."